ROAD BLOCKS (Day 4 of 7)
(Need to start at the beginning?? Day 1)
So what keeps us from standing with others in difficult times?
I don’t know about y’all, but I have an allergic reaction to hard times. Who in their right mind likes difficulty and struggle, right? It’s becomes a walk of love and obedience to put up with the ickiness of bad times, so you can hug and pray for the one in need.
I also know that I will carry home some of the emotional weight (some of that is healthy, some not). That’s me personally, and I can turn it into worry or I can turn and talk to God about it. That’s my issue and I just need to be wise about it.
It can also impact how people look at me. If I stand with someone who is in prison, who lost their home, or who just made a very poor personal choice, can I live with the disdain from others who might not understand why I am walking through troubled waters with this person? It kind of goes back to the question of who I want to be. What are my values? What’s really important to me? Can I see standing with these people as having more value than receiving approval from the general public?
I had a friend whose husband made a poor choice. It cost him many friends and hurt his reputation. My friend stood with her husband and it cost her friends and hurt her reputation as well. It was a serious choice with serious consequences, but her choice to stand with her broken husband saved them a lot of grief (not to mention a divorce). Today, they are an amazing couple. Their marriage survived and is growing healthy (they have a new baby!). They are building new friendships. They have dreams and a future.
Now, not every story has a happily-every-after ending as we see it, but I think that acting in grace and compassion toward those who are struggling is its own reward with the possibility of miracles following.
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We’re Donation Supported
I am being challenged by this series about standing with others in difficult times. Your points about why we avoid people going through difficult times convicts me of some of my past choices, and I stand humbly corrected.
By God’s grace, I purpose to do better…and for many reasons, mainly because currently my husband is going through a major health crisis and we have had dear, sweet Christian friends walk with us, beside us, behind us, and some, literally have even carried my husband.
Jesus has shone through these dear people, and I have learned to likewise be generous and gracious to others now who are walking through difficult and trying times.
Thank you for your words of wisdom and insights. I appreciate this message.
RoseMarie, thank you so much for commenting. I think most of us can identify with your words. We’re all learning and growing and, yes, thank God for those sweet people who stand with us and bless us in hard times.