The Joy Of Serving

The Joy Of Serving

Oh, the joys of those who are kind to the poor! The Lord rescues them when they are in trouble. The LORD protects them and keeps them alive. He gives them prosperity in the land and rescues them from their enemies. Psalm 41:1-2

Though my family was poor when I was growing up, I didn’t know it until another ten-year-old, who was supposedly of a higher position in the pecking order, pecked me down to size.

“You’re poor!”

“No, I’m not!”

Then he counted on his fingers all the material assets he had that I didn’t. It was a revelation to me that he was so focused on possessions. My family may not have had his family’s wealth, but we certainly weren’t poor in spirit.

Growing up on the “wrong side of the tracks” gave me a unique vantage point on life. When I went to medical school, my scholarship came with an obligation that I would spend several years practicing medicine in a poor area of the country.

But I didn’t consider that an obligation. That’s what I had always wanted to do, anyway. My wife and I were excited when I found a job in Cheatham County, Tennessee. These were my people, and I wanted to live alongside them and serve them.

I was only the third doctor in a county of twenty-five thousand people, many of whom had great health needs. Good portions of the population, at the time, were living below the poverty line, and more walked that line like a tightrope.

Shortly after I arrived, the state of Tennessee developed plans to build a new hospital in our area—the first new hospital in the state in twenty years. It was designed to serve the poor and medically underserved in Cheatham and surrounding counties. But at the “certificate of need” meeting, a large corporation opposed the plan. I was dumbfounded. Why would anyone oppose caring for the poor? The opponents had their reasons, of course, but the prayers of the people prevailed. Twenty-five years later, that hospital is still going strong, and Karen and I have made the area our home.

TODAY’S RX

Serve someone who is in poor health or who is poor financially or spiritually. You will create joy in two lives—theirs and yours.

Jesus, help me to model your ministry of serving those in need. Show me how I can be of better use to help those who are poor, lonely, or sick. Thank you for modeling this for me through your great love.