Love others by Being Sensitive to their Pain

Pray – (1/2 minute)

Read – (2 1/2 minutes) – “Some time later the son of the woman who owned the house became ill. He grew worse and worse, and finally stopped breathing. She said to Elijah, ‘What do you have against me, man of God? Did you come to remind me of my sin and kill my son?’ ” (1 Kings 17:17-18)
     Passage: Matthew 9:36

          The widow of Zarephath was a single mother, with a young son, in a culture that did not have the ethic of care for widow’s without family support that God had given the Jewish people. She was fortunate to have a home, but she had no means of support. Not only was her son the apple of her eye, but he was also her future provider. When he died, her grief and response of questioning and lashing out were normal reactions. Elijah demonstrates that he understood that by not correcting her. He knew she was in pain, and he felt compassion for her.
         Grief is a process. I once heard it described as “hard work”. When a person is in the first stage of grief with a trauma they have experienced, it’s normal to hear questions of why God would allow this or other expressions of hurt, and even anger. The first thing to do in loving people at those moments is to be sensitive and compassionate toward their pain. Even if you have been through something similar, remember that no one can know exactly how someone else is feeling. Love shows compassion.     

Apply - (2 1/2 minutes)
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Pray - (1 1/2 minutes)