God comforts the hurting

Sometimes the only path to helping someone is listening.

Tragedy can strike at any moment. The pain and grief that follows can be almost unbearable.

This can turn happy, positive people into angry, negative people, and some can’t really get past that. Their grief permeates their life indefinitely.

We just don’t know what is affecting a person’s heart … until we can listen.

Wait for an opportunity and just be there in a time of need. Love on them.

This, to me, is witnessing – showing Christ’s love to others.

At some point a question will arise and you can deliver a Spirit-filled answer that leads to the Gospel.

2 Corinthians 1:3-4 (KJV) – “3 Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort; 4 Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God.”

I know in my own grief that there was little, if anything, in this world that consoled me.

When life bottomed out, all I could do was stumble around to find my way back to Jesus, knowing He was there if I kept searching.

Psalm 62:8 (KJV) – “Trust in him at all times; ye people, pour out your heart before him: God is a refuge for us.”

Psalm 147:3 (KJV) – “He healeth the broken in heart, and bindeth up their wounds.”

Matthew 5:3-4 (KJV) – “3 Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

“4 Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.”

Now, disciple, let your actions of comfort be an extension of God’s love to someone grieving.

Hold them, love them. Show them the path forward.

Show them Jesus.

3 Questions for now

When your heart and ears are in tune with Jesus, you’ll hear someone crying out for help.

It may be a whimper based on something that happened, or it may be an angry tirade.

With ears open, you’ll understand the need, the pain.

Be ready to love on them.

Here are questions to ask after you hear from their heart:

• What’s causing you to have this emotional reaction?

• Do you believe you are able to handle this alone?

• What can I do to help?

From there you can likely get to simple responses that share Jesus.

“Here’s what I’ve found in Jesus in my life that’s helped me through such a time.”

Be kind. Love others. Be bold.

Shawn’s noodling rant:

(“Noodling” is a term I swiped from my mentor. The meaning is to “ponder” or “think deeply about” a topic that God is challenging us with through scripture or the Holy Spirit, or both.)

Power of prayer brings comfort in times of loss

In my neck of the woods – and in places that lie far beyond – there is a great sense of pain and grief casting a shadow over many lives.

The massive, devastating and simply unbelievable flooding that ripped away hundreds of lives in Central Texas is difficult to understand.

I’ve experienced sudden loss of a loved one before in my life that hits like a sledgehammer, sending my world of emotions and sense of reality into a tailspin that seems insurmountable.

The pain of such grief is not just emotional or mental, it’s physical.

And what the people affected by the flooding loss are experiencing is ten-fold what I’ve ever felt.

Lives were literally ripped away in the dark of the night. No warning. No hope for rescue.

Entire families – mom, dad, children – gone in seconds.

The devastation of these souls removed from this world so suddenly is felt by all those who knew and loved them locally, and also those connected to them from afar.

The work to find the missing who were swept away will extend for days, weeks, and months. Some may never be found.

The grief and pain for loved ones will settle in and linger throughout the search, and far beyond for many.

Story upon story will be told within the news, renewing the anguish each time.

Many professionals – firefighters, rescue swimmers, law enforcement, search and rescue specialists, and more – are working tirelessly to alleviate the not knowing of loved ones who have lost someone. (And these professionals are also affected by such loss as they see it up close.)

We as believers, despite any sadness we might feel, are not helpless to contribute to a resolution for those directly affected by the floods.

We can donate if we are able. Find a reputable agency and give if you can.

Even more powerful is our direct connection to our Father in Heaven and our Savior Jesus Christ.

Romans 8:26-27 (KJV) – “26 Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. 27 And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God.”

1 Thessalonians 5:17 (KJV) – “Pray without ceasing.”

Now, disciple, pray.

And pray some more.

Let Jesus’ love and comfort settle upon all those who are grieving.

Let His salvation reach them that they may have eternal comfort.