Matthew 9:35-38

³⁵ Jesus traveled through all the cities and villages of that area, teaching in the synagogues and announcing the Good News about the Kingdom. And wherever he went, he healed people of every sort of disease and illness. ³⁶ He felt great pity for the crowds that came, because their problems were so great and they didn’t know where to go for help. They were like sheep without a shepherd. ³⁷ He said to his disciples, “The harvest is so great, but the workers are so few. ³⁸ So pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest; ask him to send out more workers for his fields.”

New Living Translation

Culture may have changed since the days of Jesus, but people haven't changed.  Our problems may look different on the surface, but when you get right down to it, the core of our issues are the same now as then.

It seems that even the most "together" people I know have problems they can't solve.  Issues involving finances, health, relationships or the past seem to be plaguing everyone...myself included.

I had a co-worker ask me today if I would pray for the Rapture.  She was joking...sort of.  Life is hard at times, and the desire to find the perfect escape can be pretty strong.  That is why addictions are so rampant.  A few moments of drunken forgetfulness can be the only relief some people get.

I don't know why life has to be so hard.  Why is it that as soon as one crisis passes, another is about to begin?  It is exhausting.  I've felt the cloud of despair settling over me too many times to count.

Every time I've felt hopeless, I felt completely alone.  I didn't know what to do, where to go for help, or even how to get up in the morning and face the day.

I knew I wasn't alone.  Not only did I have a wonderful, supportive husband, but I also had my Lord.  It would be so neat and easy to say that the problem all along was that I had wandered from Jesus, and this depression was the consequences.  All I had to do was repent and start praying and reading my Bible again and all would be well.  But the hard truth is that some of my darkest times were when my spiritual life was at it's strongest.  

God has always helped me to recover.  I can't really explain how, I just know that as I held on to Him and His promises, eventually the darkness faded and hope returned.  He was my anchor when life seemed to make no sense at all.

Why does God let me go through these struggles?  It seems wrong.  If I am close to Him, shouldn't life be full of peace and joy?

I think part of the answer is in this passage.  Jesus wants me to be like Him.  He wants me to see the hurt that others are battling, and to point them to the only real help there is.  Sadly, I am not as compassionate as Jesus is.  I want to be, but it doesn't come as naturally as I would like.  Having to go through hard times myself has made me more compassionate.

It is easier to offer advice than it is to offer empathy.  But having been on the receiving end of all sorts of spiritual-sounding nuggets of advice myself, I know just how much these well-meaning phrases can hurt when the person saying them isn't really sharing my pain.  Instead of easing my burden, it increased it.  I felt unheard, uncared for and judged, much like Job did when his so-called friends tried to help him.

But there were others who understood what I was going through.  Sometimes all a friend had to do was be there; no words were necessary.  I felt cared for, loved, and understood.  The problem didn't magically disappear, but it became easier to bear because of the empathy of a friend.  

And then, that friend could point me to the One who offers me real hope.  Often my attitude did need to be adjusted, or I had to repent, or I had to forgive someone who had hurt me.  But no preaching or lecturing was necessary.  I didn't need correction, I just needed compassion.  That opened a door to the healing work of Jesus.    

Because I have been hurt myself and was comforted by a compassionate friend who pointed me to Jesus, I can do the same for the hurting people all around me.  If I stop preaching, or throwing good theology at others, and just love them and point them to Jesus, I wonder how many lives can be changed?