Across town from friends, I often experience vastly different weather than they do. Welcome to Nebraska!
Recently, less than 20 miles from my house, tennis ball size hail tore up Blair, Nebraska. We saw the storm line of clouds from our back patio, but had no damage. Not really even any rain. In Blair, sides of houses look like someone took a machine gun to them. A major car dealership experienced hug damages to their inventory.
Not too long after that storm, another one moved through the region. Barely anything came down at my house. Afterward, I was surprised to learn that only about an hour to the north of us, twin tornadoes touched down, bringing destruction to Pilger, Nebraska.
I thought about this later. How we can be so close to destruction, but totally unaware of it. We go on with our lives while others just a short drive down the road are having their lives destroyed.
I think we do the same thing with people and their private hurts.
Sitting next to us on a bus or standing in line at the store is someone who may be hurting, but we judge other people’s actions based on OUR reality- which happens to be just fine at the moment.
We get upset when they look at us with a sour expression or raise their voice or get impatient with us.
Normally “what if” only leads to regret and shame. It can paralyze us and bury us in. Maybe this is an appropriate time for “what if”.
If we knew what they were walking through, we might have compassion on them. What if they are hurting? What if they just experienced a financial hardship? What if someone they loved just died? What if someone just abused them?
We might offer a hand up instead of a hand out the door.
Next time you are tempted to make assumptions about the stranger who infuriates you based on your own current reality, stop and ask yourself “what if”.
What if this person doesn’t know Jesus? What if this person has lost faith? What if this person has never met an authentic Christ follower?
That one simple question might just lead to a changed life and a new friend. This is one “what if” you may regret NOT asking.
Photo credit: www.freedigitalphotos.net // Stuart Miles
