Monday, May 15, 2023

The Dump (part 2)

 


Apparently one of the best places to find life lessons is at the city dump.  A few months ago, we saw that God can be found at the dump in the Bahamas.  On a recent trip to Norway to see our daughter, I found Him there too.

 

Our daughter’s father-in-law (Per Anders) and I were commissioned by my son-in-law to rent a trailer and take a bunch of yard clippings to the dump.  (Lesson for another day but how did we get talked into this???)  Bright and early, we dutifully loaded up the trailer, drove to the dump and unloaded it.  While we were exiting, a large commercial trash truck appeared to maybe be flagging us down, but we didn’t stop to see what he wanted.  A few hundred yards later, I suggested we at least stop and see if there was an issue.  As it turns out, a stabilizing wheel that was supposed to be off the ground had slipped and was dragging on the ground.  We attempted to try and lift the trailer to create enough space to put it back in place, but the trailer was just too heavy.  Since we were going to need another strong back, Per Anders went to see if he could find someone to help.  Just then, the same truck driver was also exiting and stopped to tell us that he had seen the wheel dragging and that’s why he was trying to get our attention.  He said he had recently rented a trailer and had the same issue.  He helped us lift the trailer up so we could put the wheel back in place.  We thanked him and were back on our merry way.

 

Hebrews 2:18 - Because He himself suffered when he was tempted, He is able to help those who are being tempted.

 

Things to think about:

·       The man at the dump was attuned to our need because he had experienced the same problem.  He knew what to look for and because of his experience, was sensitive to the same need in others.

·       He saw what we couldn’t see

·       He made an attempt to intervene, but we chose to ignore him

·       It was only when we stopped long enough to look at the situation that we understood we had a problem

·       Not only did we need his insight, we needed his strength

·       Jesus understands us because He became one of us

o   Experience

§  He became fully human

o   Empathy

§  He himself suffered

o   Engagement

§  Isaiah 40:29 - He gives strength to the weary
    and increases the power of the weak.

o   When have you felt the power of Empathy and Engagement from someone else?

·       How do we use our past (or present) pains to see the hurt in others and step in to make a difference?

·       2 Corinthians 1:3-4 - Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.

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