I think I am more acutely aware of and touched by pain, suffering and loss around me since Jackie’s hospitalization and then passing in August. I suppose that is a good thing; it certainly isn’t a comfortable feeling though. Before, when I would pray for others, the earnestness and focus just wasn’t there the way it is now. Now, my heart is broken when I hear of illnesses and deaths. I groan for the people involved and call out to the Lord. It is also easier to talk to them and truly be compassionate concerning what they are going through.
The cost of being a comforter, an earnest prayer supporter and ultimately, a minister, is very high. For, if, as the Word says, "we comfort with the comfort we have received," then necessarily we have gone through painful times when we ourselves needed comfort from the Lord.
The older we become the more painful experiences we have collected. If we have truly allowed the Lord to teach us and change us through these painful experiences then instead of being bitter or stagnated old people, we should have become more compassionate, more able to comfort and minister!
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NOTE: The Greek word for “compassion” in the New Testament has a root meaning of “guts, viscera, or the bowels”; in other words, the place of deep seated emotional response. See also, John 11:1-46, especially verses 35, 36, and 38. Jesus wept; Jesus was deeply moved at the death of his friend Lazarus
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God. 2 Cor. 1:3
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