Have you ever seen a person with so much pain in their heart that they said some things they shouldn’t have? They just wanted the pain to stop, and they were grasping for whatever help they could find.
More than likely, the people who love them understood and tried to help. They knew how pain can dull a person’s ability to make rational and appropriate choices and words. They knew this wasn’t a reflection of a hard heart; this was a reflection of a hurting heart.
Later, when the pain lessened with time or the situation was resolved, it should have been better, but it wasn’t because not everyone loved the person in pain. Not everyone understood. Some people judged and held resentment or spread gossip and blamed the very people who were hurting in the first place.
What is the answer in this situation?
Is it to distrust even those who seem to care? Should we lock ourselves in a closet when we are distraught so we won’t say anything inappropriate that others can’t handle? What happens when the after-effects of this weakness seem to linger far longer than the unfortunate event that caused them? Even after accepting the offered amends, the person may see things from a higher perspective but cannot move forward, as if being held back by invisible hands of oppression.
Not everyone can empathize, comfort, and overlook an offense. That’s where those people are now spiritually. But when unbelievers love people better than believers do, that’s a hard-core reality to accept.
We should always take our pain to the Lord. We should also take the pain of others to Him so we know how to respond in a way that glorifies the Lord and does not stumble our weaker brothers and sisters.
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. 2 Corinthians 1:3-4
Reflection: Have you received Christ-centered comfort? Have you given Christ-centered comfort to someone “stuck” in their pain? How did you do that?
A LIVING STONE 