A story is told about a soldier who was finally coming home after having fought in Vietnam. He called his parents from San Francisco. “Mom and Dad, I’m coming home, but I’ve a favor to ask. I have a friend I’d like to bring home with me.” “Sure,” they replied, “we’d love to meet him.” “There’s something you should know,” the son continued, “he was hurt pretty badly in the fighting. He stepped on a land mind and lost an arm and a leg. He has nowhere else to go, and I want him to come live with us.” “I’m sorry to hear that, son. Maybe we can help him find somewhere to live.” “No, Mom and Dad, I want him to live with us.” “Son,” said the father, “you don’t know what you’re asking. Someone with such a handicap would be a terrible burden on us. We have our own lives to live, and we can’t let something like this interfere with our lives. I think you should just come home and forget about this guy. He’ll find a way to live on his own.” At that point, the son hung up the phone. The parents heard nothing more from him. A few days later, however, they received a call from the San Francisco police. Their son had died after falling from a building, they were told. The police believed it was a suicide. The grief-stricken parents flew to San Francisco and were taken to the city morgue to identify the body of their son. They recognized him, but to their horror they also discovered something they didn’t know, their son had only one arm and one leg.
Here is a powerful, yet a sad story that I came across online. I don’t know if it is true or not, but the implications is reaching for considerations. I want you to read the story and then read Proverbs 2:1-11 and think about what wisdom and advice you would have considered for the parents as well as the son. Some of us if not all of us have had some challenging moments that demanded great wisdom in some very traumatic situations. (It’s part of the job description.) The writer of Proverbs 2:1-11 offers some great lessons on how to gain Godly wisdom which can advise us as we advise others. I pray as you read this text you let it season your heart and mind for the moments we need to offer a WORD into the lives of someone we shepherd. Lastly, May God help us to get our hearing in tone with what’s being spoken and not spoken. God help us not to miss a thing.
If you would like to view past editions of Devotions with DS. Kenneth Locklear, follow this link: https://gatewaydistrictnc.org/category/from-the-ds/