Pray:
Gentle Savior, may I be a source of strength and life to those who suffer.
Read:
Job 6:1-30
Reflect:
Can you offer the gift of quiet presence to those in pain?
Job is in despair (13,26). He wishes he were dead and asks God to grant his wish (8,9). His friends' arguments just make him feel worse (25-27)!
We know that the presence of someone who cares about us in the midst of pain reduces its felt intensity and/or increases our capacity to endure pain. Just ask any woman going through childbirth. We need human company (Gen. 2:18), particularly when we're suffering. Perhaps the kindest thing we can do for those suffering is to be with them non-judgmentally. That's what Job longs to receive (14,26,27).
And even in the midst of our own pain, caring for others is transformative. In the dark journey of a painful period of my life something changed for me when I began to reach out and care for others. I could only manage small acts of kindness and not for very long initially, but something definitely turned around in me.
How do we live in a suffering world? We can reach out and care for others, even when it's the last thing we feel like doing. Isolation increases suffering.
Apply:
Ask God to show you someone who needs a friend in their suffering and be present to them in their time of need.
Pray:
Lord, thank You that You enter into my pain as well as my joy. Thank You for Your deep and abiding care.
