Counter Culture: Carry One Another’s Burdens — Friday
2 Corinthians 1:4
He comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others. When they are troubled, we will be able to give them the same comfort God has given us. (NLT)
Have you ever come across someone in pain and you just had no idea what to do or say? Let’s wrap up this week’s time together with something I’ve learned in my years as a pastor about meeting needs in ministry. There are two things you can do in response to ANY situation or circumstance, no matter whether you’ve been there and experienced that or not: You can pray, and you can be present.
I learned this lesson as I led a team of highly-seasoned pastoral staff with a variety of gifts and experience, which added up to nearly 200 years of total ministry experience. As I took time to think about the unifying factors of our ministries—which encompassed a variety of ways people need care, including counseling, recovery, funerals, special needs, hospitalizations, senior adults, prayer, baptism, and crisis care—those two threads popped up repeatedly.
When we boiled it down together, we set a determination to be personally prayerful. We would be available to pray for or with people any time. And we would all take steps to be present with people in their pain and take them to Jesus. We’d move toward difficult situations and be present to encourage, support, challenge, stretch, and nudge folks toward growth.
Make no mistake: It doesn’t take years of ministry experience to help people in these two ways. It takes open eyes to see the needs of others, and a growing selflessness that moves us to take time out of our days to let people know they’re not alone and they’ve got someone in their corner who’s covering them in prayer.
God redeems hurts. Your pain may be from the same kind of hurt that someone else has experienced. It may not. Regardless, the difficulties and challenges you’ve been through bring power to your presence and prayerfulness. We’re all in it together in this journey of life. You may have a deep awareness of exactly what someone is going through, or your struggles may simply give you the patience to listen long and spend the time needed for your presence to be a comfort and remind someone they’re not alone. Either way, what we’ve been through can matter in significant ways in many more lives than just our own. It’s a worthwhile investment that you won’t regret.
Friday’s Reflection
Prayer and presence. You can do this. Ask God to show you an opportunity in the coming season to do one of these—or both! Your prayers and your presence can bring the One who can minister most powerfully to the hurting people around you. You can bring Jesus into their lives and circumstances. It’s a joy and honor to get to be part of what God is doing.
