I spent time today in a chair that no one really likes to be in, the dentist chair. I don't do great with the anesthesia. It takes forever to kick in, so I get more and then I am numb for hours. As I was checking out, my friend Jen who is the receptionist is asking me questions. With half my mouth numb, I am trying to sound normal as I answer and not have any drool come out as I do it!.  I think she has heard so many speak "numb" that it probably normal to her. 

It's funny how the anesthesia makes your lip stick out 3 inches, your cheek look like a balloon and your tongue twice it's size. I know, it really doesn't but it sure feels like it. No one can tell just by looking at you that you are numb. It's only when you open your mouth and talk that it becomes apparent.  

As I heard the jokes about having "numb tongue" and having little success drinking from a water bottle, the thought hit me, numbness isn't visible. I don't look any different on the outside, I feel different on the inside. How many people do I encounter every day that are numb? Heart broken, overwhelmed, exhausted, abandoned, hopeless, numb. They don't wear a sign announcing it. They look like everyone else. Are they going about their life surprised that no one can see how numb they are? Sure their heart is so swollen from the pain that someone should see it.

I have heard it said that "hurting people hurt people." We have all encountered them, they are at the grocery store, where you work and everywhere in between. We can hear the numbness through the words they choose, we just have to listen. Listen deep enough to get past the hurt and see their heart. To show the love of Jesus in our words and actions. So my challenge to myself is to  seek out the cashier ( the one I always try to avoid) at the store and try to impact her day in a small way.  Matthew 5:3 "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." It's about humility, not putting oneself above another. Stopping to take a pause in our hectic life to notice someone else. Jesus is our conerstone, our breath, our hope, our life. Jesus calls us to reach out to the hurting, broken and lost. 

So with my cornerstone in my pouch I will get out of my chair and go. Jesus open my eyes to see the hurting, open my ears to hear their cry and open my heart to love them like You do.