Crushed

 I don't know who penned the phrase, "The eyes are the window into the soul," but I agree. Look deep into the eyes of another person and you can discover passion, anger, sorrow, love, and deep wounds. I saw into another person's soul this week and I was not even looking for it. 

The circumstances are not important. It was just a casual glance in a boring setting I did not want to be in. I glanced around the room and caught this woman's eyes. She was staring into the distance and did not even know I was watching her. Normally she is joyous, independent, vivacious, energetic, and resolute. That is not what I saw in her yesterday. I saw pain. Deep seated pain. While I cannot read people's minds, I know I saw pain in her eyes and in her soul. She was crushed. Like she had been through a meat grinder and left crushed and ground into balls of pain. 

Everyday people lived crushed in spirit. The reasons may vary but the results are just the same. One of the meanings of the word crushed is oppressed. Life can be oppressive. Financial burdens can wear a person down. Relational burdens can weigh heavily. Sin can devastate. Betrayal can feel like the stab of knife in the back. Death is cruel snatching from us those we love. Shattered dreams can crush people until they feel ground to a pile of powder. 

Crushed people may try and put on a brave face. Their eyes betray the truth in their souls. Some are crushed and broken hearted. Trite cliches do not offer comfort. Only God can help crushed people put the broken pieces back together again. Crushed people are forced to continue through the drudgery of duties. They dutifully march onward like a good soldier. Only they find themselves going through the motions devoid of vitality. Crushed people just try to survive the next task and to get through the day. Getting out of bed is hard. Curling up in the fetal position feels more comforting than getting up and about. 

Sadly, most of us are so busy with our over committed schedules we can miss crushed people. We do not take time to notice. I would not have noticed the crushed woman I saw except for a random glance around the room. Jesus did not rush through life and look right past crushed people. It is true that Jesus lived on purposeful mission. He was always about the Father's business. Many times people were the Father's business. Sinners in need of redemption. Hypocrites in need of holiness. Blind in need of sight. Deaf in need of hearing. Lepers in need of cleansing. Broken in need of mending. Hurting in need of comfort. Hopeless in need of a miracle. Possessed in need of deliverance. Even the dead in need of life. 

Jesus walked slowly through the crowds and noticed hurting crushed people. He saw past the exterior facade into the truth in the hidden part. Jesus noticed crushed people and reached out to help them out of their pain. I fear the church has lost sight of this at times. We are so busy keeping the programs performing at optimum levels that we sometimes forget ministry is about people and not programs. We script the worship service to begin at 10:00 or 11:00 sharp and dismiss people an hour later dull. We can get annoyed when some broken soul lingers longer at the altar than we want. We grow irritated when someone catches us needing a listening ear and a shoulder to lean on after the closing prayer when we prefer to be sitting down to lunch. The church often fails crushed people. Jesus never does. Turn to Him. Lean into Him. Rely on Him. Trust Him. He saves, rescues and helps those crushed in spirit.