By Brenda Groves
The Post Newspaper Contributing Writer
Many years ago, a neighbor down our street had a crawfish boil. Now I don’t particularly care for crawfish, but I was excited for the invite.
I didn’t know much about boiling crawfish, so for the first time I got to witness the whole process.
Now I am not against crawfish boils at all, but I will admit I did feel a little pity for the creatures as they were being boiled alive.
As I have mentioned, I grew up on a small farm, and we did kill and eat some of our livestock. And I never had any remorse over that.
But as I watched batch after batch of the crawfish being dumped into the boiling water, I felt a little sorry for them.
The next morning I went to our mailbox where I witnessed a most pitiful sight: one, lonely crawfish had somehow escaped the boiling pot and was crawling ever so slowly down the hot asphalt. It had a string of weeds attached to its legs, with a trail of ants closing in quickly.
I felt such compassion for the poor creature, so I rescued it. Back at the house I made a little home for the crawfish in a tub of cool water and placed it under a shade tree in our backyard.
Well, the little fella died the next day, and I was a little sad.
Now, I had not thought of this in many years, even though I have been to several crawfish boils since then. But recently the Lord has been showing me something about the difference between pity and compassion.
And this experience with the crawfish is a good example of both pity and compassion.
Webster’s Dictionary defines pity as, a “feeling of sadness or sympathy for the suffering or unhappiness of others. Something that causes regret or disappointment.”
The definition of compassion is the “sympathetic consciousness of others’ distress together with a desire to alleviate it.
“The component of action is what separates compassion from empathy, sympathy, pity, concern, condolence, sensitivity, tenderness, commiseration or any other compassion synonym. Compassion gets involved. When others keep their distance from those who are suffering, compassion prompts us to act on their behalf.
“Mercy is the compassionate treatment of those in distress. Mercy is the fruit of compassion. It’s the gift given to the suffering by those living out their compassion.”
At first, I felt pity for the crawfish. But when I acted on that pity, it turned into compassion.
We see compassion working throughout Jesus’ ministry. For example, when Mary and Martha’s brother, Lazarus, died, as told in the 11th chapter of John. Verse 35 says that “Jesus wept.” The Lord showed sadness or empathy for Mary and Martha, who were mourning their brother’s death. But then He did something about it. He raised Lazarus from the dead! (V. 38-44)
Compassion.
I believe many of us today feel like we (or someone we love) are stuck in a pit of despair. Maybe that is where we get the word “pitiful” from?
Well, if you are feeling pitiful, or facing a pitiful situation, the word of God has a compassionate answer: Jesus.
“For God so loved the world, that He has His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16
Jesus is the love of God in action.
Not just in the “sweet by and by,” but in the here and now. “Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in healthy, just as your soul prospers.” 3 John 1:2
Whatever the condition we are in, the Lord Jesus has provided deliverance as part of His atonement through His death and resurrection. “His kingdom come, His will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” Matthew 6:10
You may be thinking, “not my pitiful condition.” Well, Lazarus had been dead four days before Jesus brought Him back to life. You can’t get much worse than that!
Compassion equals hope. The word of God offers hope.
“The words that I speak, they are Spirit and they are life.” John 6:63
Just come to the altar, with all your heart open to the Lord, even if you have to crawl, like the crawfish I found.
Jesus will pick you up, put you in a shady spot and give you living water to drink.
“He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, ‘He is my refuge and my fortress; My God, in Him I will trust.” Psalm 91:1-2
“… If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scriptures have said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.” John 7:37-38 (NKJV).
Proverbs 31:8-9, 1 John 3:18, 1 Peter 4:10, Zechariah 7:9-10, Philippians 2:1-2
