GOD'S TRIAGE

by Danna Shirley

Triage—to assign degrees of urgency to the wounded and sick.

            Have you ever thought you’ve fallen short of being an effective witness for Christ? Do you go through each day being tossed to and fro by circumstances? by poor relationships? by up/down moods? by laughter/tears emotions?   How can we be used by God to help others if we are the ones who need to be ministered to constantly?

            I’ve been a child of God for 34 years. I’ve been on the mountaintop and down in the valley more times than I care to count . . . or want to admit. I’ve often thought, “Why can’t I just stay on top of things? Why do I have to live like a yo-yo? However, I’ve learned God always teaches me a lesson wherever I may find myself.

            The person going through a hard time wants to hear how to survive. If you’ve never survived a hardship, how can you relate? I remember as a young Christian going with a friend to talk to someone considering abortion. I sat in the background silent as Melody talked to this young girl about keeping her baby. Melody had had an abortion, I had not. I could have shared all the dos and don’ts, whys and why nots but only Melody understood her heart cry. That’s when I understood this scripture:

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the same comfort we ourselves have received from God. For just as the sufferings of Christ flow over into our lives, so also through Christ our comfort overflows. (2 Corinthians 1:3-5)

            Whatever we have learned in going through our troubles is for us to share and comfort those going through the same thing. God never wastes an opportunity.

So what is God’s Triage?

God leads us to the right people who need to hear the right thing. I cannot speak about how to survive an abortion but I can take the assignment to comfort someone who has become a widow, as I did at age 54. We’re all equipped with our own special gifts and as we use those gifts, we become fitly joined together into the Body of Christ . . .

Just as our bodies have many parts and each part has a special function, so it is with Christ’s body. We are many parts of one body, and we all belong to each other. In his grace, God has given us different gifts for doing certain things well . . . When God’s people are in need, be ready to help them . . . Romans 12:4-13

            So who in the Body of Christ ministers to the . . .

·        Alcoholic

·        Drug addict

·        Incarcerated

·        Divorcee

·        Sick & Dying

·        Loss of a loved one

·        Loss of a job 

·        Loss of finances

·        Lost relationship

·        Etc, etc.

The most perfect ones to be used by God are those who have survived the same kind of ordeal. God leads us across their path because we can comfort them with the same comfort we ourselves have received from God. When God puts someone across our path, it’s for a reason. Turn up your spiritual hearing. He will give the words of comfort to speak. Don’t waste another opportunity.