Tears of Comfort

A few days after the Easter tornado, I went to visit a friend who had suffered a great loss of property. As I drove along Jenkins Road, I got “lost.” I didn’t know where I was; all the landmarks – trees, street signs, buildings -- were gone or distorted. I couldn’t find my friend’s house. I saw the destruction of our church and school, which I had seen in photos. When I finally got to my friend’s house and knocked on her door, tears were streaming down my face. I couldn’t stop them. I thought, “She doesn’t need this, my crying; she has her own troubles without my adding to them.” Maybe I was wrong. After she showed me the damage and loss and told her story, as I was leaving, she startled me by saying, “Thank you for crying for me.”

Well, I hadn’t meant to. I had intended to encourage her, but not by being discouraged. Yet, my distress showed her that I entered into her sorrow. We shared the pain.

God’s Word tells us that we can comfort others after we have needed and experienced His comfort.

“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 tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.” 2 Cor 1:3,4.

 In this Scripture, the writer is talking about suffering for the cause of Christ, but note the words, “all our tribulation,” and “who are in any trouble.”  Possibly there is a principle applying to many situations. God is the “God of all comfort.” He acknowledges our sorrows, He sees our tears, and He wants us to turn to Him for comfort. After that, we can see others’ sorrows, accept their tears, and give them a safe place to turn for comfort.

Often when I am dealing with stress or pain, I think, “I don’t need this.” But maybe I do, according to God, so I can empathize with (comfort) others.

Romans 12, in instructing us with many ways to show love, includes the command to weep (or mourn) with those who weep (or mourn). We aren’t told to recite Scriptures, share encouraging anecdotes or (worst of all) tell them to “forget it.” We are told to mourn right along with them. That would mean actually participating in sorrow. That may be hard. We don’t want any more sorrow, especially other people’s sorrow. We have enough of our own. But just that – enough of our own – is what enables us to participate compassionately with others.

Many of us have shed tears over the many kinds of losses that came with the tornado. And many among us are shedding tears over other kinds of losses and heartaches.

When we are hurting, our first remedy is to turn to the Lord. When others are hurting, our first remedy is to turn to the Lord. Then it’s OK to be hurt along with them.

Comforting another isn’t as simple as disposing of their pain. Usually we don’t have that power. But we do have the power to be hurt, ourselves. Evidently, that can be a Godly thing, if we turn to Him for comfort. Let’s ask God to help us use our pain as He instructs us.

--Lynda Shenefield