A friend told me of a visit to his doctor.
“Doc,” he complained, “Sometimes I hurt in my knees, sometimes in my hands and…ah, I just seem to hurt somewhere all the time.” Without blinking an eye, the young but professional physician grinned then replied. “Harry, at your age if you don’t hurt, you’re dead.”
If that’s the criteria I guess I’ve entered “that age” as well. Now I’ve always believed that age isn’t really counted in years or decades but rather by attitude and fortitude, but I confess that these days the most positive of attitudes have been trumped by those annoying bodily aches and pains.
Plain and simple, there are few days now where I don’t hurt somewhere.
But as true as that is and as real as my pain, my physical aches and distresses pale in comparison what someone else might be going through. Fresh in my mind is the distress of my friends in North Carolina; hurricane Florence may have blown itself out but the struggle to overcome the damage caused is far from over.
Then there are those who have lost a spouse, those who are desperate in their search for a job or far more situations than I could mention. What can I, as a Christian, do to help ease another’s pain?
Instructions to the New Testament church include exhortations to remain true to Christ’s teaching and doing that includes supporting one another. “Bear one another’s burdens”, “Comfort one another” and “By love serve one another” are just some of the exhortations given us in scripture.
We are to do what we can to help but with the understanding that while we may not be able to provide a tangible solution, we can pray.
“Bear ye one another’s burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ” (Galatians 6:2, 9)
