James 1:12 "Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him."
How do you help someone you love who is hurting, when there is very little you can do for them in a practical way? It is so difficult to watch someone you love struggle for any reason, whether it is brought on by their own decisions or by events or situations beyond their control. Being an empathic person, I feel other's pain very deeply. However, being a person with a very specific kind of OCD, I ALWAYS am compelled to try to help. Often, there is really nothing I can actually do beside listen, try to give good council, and pray. Prayer, obviously, being the most important of the three. However, with all those things I put forth I very rarely see an immediate change for my loved one. The hardest lesson for me to have learned, and to be mindful about, is that I cannot do the work for anyone else. I cannot practice patience, have forward motion, gain inward positivity or strength; least of all I cannot have faith in God for anyone else. Really, all I can do is try to model these things in my own life. Through my own brokenness, or maybe because of it, I can strive to help others see the depth and breadth Jesus' love for them. Jesus is the only way!
1 comment:
Watching someone you love suffer through difficulties is indeed hard. We can offer our love, our embrace, our support, but we cannot walk the journey for them. We can follow them, hold them up while they move, but we are otherwise unable to do anything. But someone is already walking that journey with them. Someone is already holding them up, offering them grace, and offering them salvation. God is with them. We cannot weather anyone else's storms, but we have to be strong in faith to help them deal with whatever God has in store for them. We cannot do anything .... except pray, support, and know that this is just a few pages, or maybe a chapter in the book of life.
Love you Lehann.
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