Article August 16, 2004 Issue

COMPASSION IN ACTION

W. B.

Ron Ballard tells about a woman who came to him for help. She had lost her job, her marriage was on the rocks, and her relationship with her kids was deteriorating. "Everything was falling apart. That's where the compassion came in. It wasn't just a matter of feeling empathy for her problems. My treatment involved recognizing that there was still divine substance in her life. The things that God was imparting to her and expressing in her were the basis of starting again, to get her life back together.

"We prayed to discern all of the things that God was supplying to her, and we cherished each one of those gifts. The more that we recognized the spiritual substance and resources that God was giving, the more she saw her life coming together. Eventually, she and her husband began to reconcile. She and the children began to understand each other's point of view. Also, she saw that she actually had needed the time away from work just to be able to reflect and to put things together, and when she had done that, she found a number of new opportunities for employment.

"Compassion in this case wasn't just feeling empathy for her situation, as much as it was recognizing who she really was as an expression or manifestation of God, and that what God was supplying in her life was permanent."

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