DO YOU SEE WHAT I SEE?

Acts of kindness can be seen in the daily routine of our days.  If you and I look a little closer, we may see the charge nurse who graciously overlooks a shortcoming and fills in this omission.  Or, the nurse manager may see a missing document, and complete this in the patient chart, herself.  You may have been the one who actually changed the IV bag of your nurse buddy’s patient, when she was busy doing a different task.  I’ve seen nurses who will stand at the door way of another ICU room, waiting to be called to help, when they know the drowning nurse can use an extra set of hands.  (God bless ICU nurses!)  In all of these examples kindness can be seen. 

In my mother’s old cover-torn yellow-paged hardback concordance, there are references of Scripture verses in regards to kindness.  With almost every reference, we can see kindness was shown to the recipient with actions.

Here are some of the Scriptures listed under the word kindness: Genesis chapter 40 with Joseph asking others to show kindness by mentioning him to the Pharaoh, who had the authority to change his situation of servant hood. Another example of kindness is Joshua chapter 2, when Rahab was asking the spies to remember her by sparing her family members from death. In the story about Ruth, after the death of her husband, defying the instructions to return to her homeland to find a new husband, and in chapter 3, she pours herself out to Naomi, offering to provide her service as maidservant, in whatever way Noami needs. Later, in this same book, Ruth was shown kindness by Boaz as stated in the book which was named after her.   As she has obeyed Naomi, Boaz then becomes her redeemer-kinsmen. Again, in 1 Samuel 20 when Jonathan was imploring David to be kind to his house; “you shall not cut off your kindness from my house forever, no, not when the Lord has cut off every one of the enemies of David from the face of the earth.” And, in 2 Samuel the second chapter when David was dealing with men of Jabesh Gilead, as  David was discussing with these men who had provided a burial for Saul.  In 1 Kings 2 David is instructing Solomon to show kindness to his allies by allowing them to eat at his table. 

Our God is a god “ready to pardon, gracious and merciful, slow to anger, abundant in kindness …” as stated in Nehemiah 9:17. Ephesians 2:7 describes the ultimate act of kindness from God, “that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.”  

So, you see, my nurse friend, the reason I named this book SHOW ME is because when I began writing a book to you, for you, about you, I wanted you to realize kindness can be SEEN.  Just as we have seen in so many of the above examples.   When you say a person has been kind to you, I can imagine you would go on to describe actions that person has taken to show you an action of kindness.

And, the greatest act of kindness in the history of mankind is the kindness when God gave his son Jesus.  John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that He gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him, will not perish but have everlasting life.”  How can any act of kindness outdo that of giving of your life for another?  Our God, in his great lovingkindess to all creation, gave Jesus as a means for us all to have eternal life.” This is the ultimate act of love and kindness.