His Compassions Never Fail
"Because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed,
for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness." - Lamentations 3:22-23
On September 11, 2001, Lt. Col. Brian Birdwell stepped into
a Pentagon hallway when the fireball from the hijacked plane
hit him. After recovering from the initial shock, Birdwell
realized he was on fire. "Jesus, I'm coming to see you," he
remembers praying.
When doctors finally attended to him at the Washington Burn Center, they found second- and third-degree burns over 40 percent of Birdwell's body. To save him, they performed several skin graft operations.
On September 13, while lying in his bed in the burn center, Laura Bush visited Brian's room and spoke to him for about a minute, all the time as if they were life-long acquaintances. She then turned to Brian's wife, Mel, who had been at the hospital for about two-and-a-half days. She was dirty, grimy, and wore a bloodstained shirt. Despite this, Laura gave her a long hug, as if she were a close family member. Laura then told them that there was "someone" there to see him.
The President walked in. Standing by Brian's bedside, the President told Colonel Birdwell that he was very proud of them both and regarded them as heroes. The President then saluted Brian. Brian slowly began to return the salute, taking about 15 to 20 seconds to get his hand up to his head because of his bandaged arms. During all of this, President Bush never moved. He dropped his salute only when Brian was finished with his.
Birdwell lives now with renewed purpose. "I'm a walking
miracle. Christ got me out of the fire. In him not taking
me, that means I have a mission to complete. He'll tell me
what it is in due time."
Our Lord is a compassionate God, one who is with us in our
most hurting times. He is one who knows our pain and one who
can deliver us for a purpose. Today in prayer, thank Christ
for His compassion towards you and seek to be faithful to
Him to complete your work in Christ.
"Compassion comes first with Jesus. Do you want to be more
like Him? Compassion comes first with Jesus." - Clark Tanner
God's Word: "When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had
compassion on them and healed their sick." - Matthew 14:14
By Peter Kennedy, Copyright 2003, Devotional E-Mail
DEVOTIONS IN JEREMIAH AND LAMENTATIONS
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