Damaged Goods

When you purchase something and it has a flaw you return it from where it came from. As you enter the doorway with your product Customer Service sees that you have come back for a reason. No one wants to deal with a damaged product, they look the other way hoping you will not come to them. Have you ever felt this feeling?
This is how I look at myself. I am a damaged product and it is easier not to look at me or come within my space. When you hurt so much because the damage is there and it will never go away after a loss that is so great our minds cannot think correctly. No one wants to be put aside, we all want someone to console us.
It is so good when people remember my loss, just as it is for you when you have a great loss.
Losses come in many forms: the loss of a family member, job, car, home, and the list goes on and on. Why is it so hard for us to console a person when they are in the middle of turmoil? This is the reason I believe we cannot accept someone who is damaged: We are all damaged in one way or another, pain is not on our agenda, we were suppose to live happy and free forever, so if I don't look I cannot see their pain.
This week I was at a hospital standing in the hall with my smile, I watched people as they walked by some look at me and smiled back, but most of the people would not even look in my direction. It is hard for us to look at others for our own reason’s, maybe because we are afraid we will be shunned if the truth be known we all have some area in our lives where we are hiding the real ME.
I encourage you this week to pick up the phone and call someone who you know is hurting. What do I say? Try this: Hey I just wanted to call and let you know that you have been on my heart and I wanted to make sure you are doing okay. Then ask the person after you here their reply: I am doing okay, NO HOW ARE YOU REALLY DOING? Be prayed up and don’t try to find the solution for their grief because most of the time there is no solution. Be a friend, love just as you want to be, pray with the person you call, be sincere, call when you have time to sit and listen, stay focused, encourage the person you choose or whoever God chooses for you, MOST IMPORTANT DO NOT PICK UP THE PHONE WHEN YOU HANG UP WITH THIS PERSON AND CALL SOMEONE ELSE TO TELL WHAT ALL YOU HAVE JUST HEARD, TRUST IS THE MOST IMPORTANT PART OF MINISTERING TO OTHER PEOPLE WHO ARE HURTING.
I hope you will take the time to share your damage, listen to someone else’s damage and don’t put on a mask we live in a harsh world as it is. I will be praying for God to work through all of us this week and put a new understanding in our way of thinking.
Trust God,
Pennie