Word for Wednesday
And He took with Him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began to be sorrowful and very heavy. Matthew 26:37
Several major issues were piling on top of me, and I was feeling the weight of those issues, especially since I could see no way through them. In my distress and confusion, I took a walk to my favourite old hiding spot in the mountain, and I took my parents’ old dog along. It was a vigorous walk to reach the hiding spot, and we were both panting with the effort when we arrived. I found a seat on the high mossy rock ledge, viewed the lovely brook that babbled below me, and then began to go over all my troubles in my mind. The old dog had been quietly nosing about to see if any rabbits or squirrels were about, and then came and lay down beside me. He had no idea what I was going through, of course, but he seemed to sense that I needed company, and I appreciated his presence. Maybe that was how the Lord Jesus felt as Peter, James, and John accompanied Him to Gethsemane.
The sorrow and heaviness that the Lord Jesus was enduring in that garden were far beyond what the disciples could grasp, just as my problems were unknown to the old dog. But at least the disciples were there, they could see the distress of their Lord, and they could offer Him the comfort of their presence. Little as it was, they at least were there. Among the Lord’s people are many who are going through troubles that we know little about, and they need somebody just to be there. We don’t understand the worries of a brother whose employment is uncertain and who has no assurance that he will be able to feed his family. We little grasp the agony of a sister whose husband has been diagnosed with inoperable cancer. We know little about the heartbreak of the couple whose daughter has left home and immersed herself in a life of deep sinfulness. But if you were one of those people, would you not appreciate a comforting embrace from somebody who cared, even if they did not understand?
Our inability to understand the sufferings and troubles of others is no excuse to deprive them of what comfort we can give. Many will say, ‘But I wouldn’t know what to say.’ The best answer to that is to say nothing. But that does not mean we do nothing. We can be like the little boy who went next door to visit the old gentleman whose wife had just died. When his mother asked him what he went over there for, he replied, ‘I was just helping him to cry’.
Sympathy and company in a time of trouble are far more valuable than we can know, even when we don’t understand. Don’t let our lack of understanding keep us from being there when we are needed. -Jim MacIntosh