Day 19 | Brad’s Story: Compassion in the Aisles

Reflection

It was an unplanned visit to Sainsbury’s. As Brad went to get a bottle of water, he noticed his old mate Simon looking at the cucumbers.

‘Fancy seeing you here! How’s it going?’

As they caught up, Brad asked how Sam, Simon’s wife, was doing. Simon looked down at his basket.

‘She’s not in a good way to be honest, mate. She’s here. She’s just waiting in the café while I get a few bits’.

Brad knew Sam fairly well.

‘Alright, I’ll go and give her a little scare,’ smiled Brad, and Simon resumed his shop.

As Brad scanned the café, he noticed a solitary figure hunched over a coffee. She was in tears, a shivering wreck. It was Sam.

‘Hiya, Sam. Are you alright?,’ Brad enquired, as he gave her a side-hug, before sliding into the chair opposite. He’d never seen her like this: a shadow of her former self. They spoke for a few minutes before Simon joined them.

Simon explained how Sam had recently been diagnosed with PTSD. Brad’s heart ached. He tried his best to find words that might bring some comfort, some hope. As the three of them stood up to say goodbye, Brad – who had only been a Christian for a matter of months – offered to do something he’d never done for anyone before:

‘Do you mind if I pray with you?’

Perhaps it was the compassion he felt seeing them suffer. Perhaps it was the conversations his small group had had about confidence. It was probably a combination of both. His friends looked at him with surprised smiles.

‘Yeah… OK.’

And so right there, in the supermarket café, Brad embraced his two old friends. As they hugged, he prayed to his heavenly Father, that these friends would experience God’s healing love and presence in their lives.

Later that day, Brad had a text: ‘That was just what we needed. Thank you.’

Responding in prayer

Lord, just as You filled Brad’s heart with compassion for his friends, would You likewise flood mine with compassion for those around me?