Sensitivity

Jerry Jenkins tells the story of an acquaintance named Raymond who was awakened in the night by the telephone. As Raymond made his way to the phone, his thoughts immediately raced to his two married sons and his daughter in college. Phone calls at that time of night rarely brought good news, and so he found himself praying for a wrong number. When he picked up the phone all he heard was sobbing. He prayed silently for strength as he heard a female voice say in the middle of a sob, "Daddy?" "Yes," Raymond answered. His daughter just sobbed. Raymond whispered so as not to disturb his wife. "Honey, what is it?" She said, "Daddy, I'm so sorry... Daddy, I'm pregnant." Raymond's heart sank. How could this be? He and his wife had reared their children in love, in the church, from the Bible. Each member of the family had a personal relationship with Christ.

After her repeated apologies, Raymond responded without hesitation, "We love you. We forgive you." They talked for more than a half hour, and then he sat and wept until dawn.

The next day he and his wife worked on a letter to their daughter which expressed their unfailing support. The post office promised to deliver the letter early Monday morning.

As Raymond made his way to the office on Monday, he received a call from his daughter who said laughing, "Daddy, what in the world is this letter all about?"

The call Raymond received in the middle of the night had not been a joke. Not a crank call. It had been a wrong number—a tragic mistake in the middle of the night, two broken hearts thinking they knew to whom they were talking. Raymond spent the rest of the day in vain trying to trace the call. He didn't want a girl racing home to a father she thought had forgiven her, only to find that he knew nothing about her situation.

On Monday Raymond's life was put back in order, but he will never be the same. Through that experience he was made sensitive to the pain of others. God has called us to bear one another's burdens. This cannot be done without sensitivity to others.'