Entitlement and ingratitude

Frank Mihalic, a Catholic missionary in Papua New Guinea, tells of a man with a deeply infected topical ulcer who came to the local clinic asking for help. A nursing sister looked at the open wound and knew that his condition was serious.

She began by diligently cleaning his open wound. Then she administered penicillin from the sparse supply. For a month the man came each morning, and the sister gently treated him and smiled as she watched healing gradually take place.

Finally the morning came when she gladly said, “Okay, now you won’t have to come back anymore. Your sore is healed!”

Expecting the man to warmly thank her, she was taken aback by his words, “What are you going to give me now for having come back every morning so faithfully?“

Is it possible that the ingratitude of the man is but a reflection of our expectations with God? The caregiver was there because she had compassion for the suffering. He deserved nothing but she gave generously.

What that woman did was a picture of what the Bible calls grace. Everything that God has done for you is not because you deserve it, not because He owes you anything, but simply because He has chosen to touch your life with His hand of mercy and compassion. What He has done is to bring healing to the putrid wound of sin that ultimately would have taken your life.

Are you now expecting a reward for being so faithful, asking for more without learning to say, “Thank you for what you have already done?” Before you condemn the man who hobbled to the clinic morning after morning, take stock of your life, your relationships and your faith. Who knows? You may be the same beggar.