Extending Sympathy

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 affliction so that we will be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. 2 Corinthians 1:3-4

And the same verses from The Message:

All praise to the God and Father of our Master, Jesus the Messiah! Father of all mercy! God of all healing counsel! He comes alongside us when we go through hard times, and before you know it, he brings us alongside someone else who is going through hard times so that we can be there for that person just as God was there for us. We have plenty of hard times that come from following the Messiah, but no more so than the good times of his healing comfort—we get a full measure of that, too. 

In a recent article in Real Simple magazine, five ways to extend sympathy were highlighted. Having lost my mother last summer, this article was interesting to me. It was titled “Simple Ways to Help a Loved One Navigate Grief”. The defining word here being "simple".

Five experts in different fields were consulted, and the two that I’m focusing on for this devotion are:

Send no-pressure invitations: extend invitations to others to join you for a meal, an outing, if they feel up to it.

Consider sympathy fuel for your soul: instead of exhausting or draining, offering something to others can provide a lift. Tell them, “I’m here to listen”. Let them know you are thinking about them. Sometimes we are afraid to say something simply because we’re not sure what to say…so we avoid people and situations. Offer an invitation (see above!). These things are not overwhelming, as this suggestion implies you may be thinking, but will be affirming and, chances are, much appreciated. Of course, every situation and every person’s journey through grief is different, but I have found this to be true when offering sympathy to those in my life who have lost loved ones. “Fuel for my soul”.

In our previous Wednesday morning Bible study, we explored the women of the New Testament (From Daughters to Disciples by Lynn Japinga), and in the chapter on the women who were present at the cross and resurrection, we find that they just showed up. They were present throughout the death and resurrection of Jesus. The author says: “when someone is in a crisis, merely showing up seems insufficient.” We may think that there is some tangible task that needs to be done for the bereaved. But: “sometimes, just being present is the greatest gift.”

The article cited above offers suggestions for both: offer an invitation when they are ready to accept, and just be present, if they are open to that.

Good advice, and good for those of us who want to offer Christian support during a sorrowful time. I was comforted by the cards and expressions of condolence offered by friends and church members following the death of my mother.

Prayer: Lord, help me to understand that it’s not difficult to let someone know that I care. With your help, I can reach out to others in their time of grief, no matter what their level of need is. There are so many for whom just being present can be appreciated. Help me to be that "present person" for others. Amen.

Donna Gustafson

Switching On the Off Switch

Do not merely listen to the Word (planted in you, which can save you), and so deceive yourselves.  Do what it says.  Anyone who listens to the Word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like.  But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it he will be blessed in what he does.  James 1:22-25

“After all, with God on our side, what could possibly be stronger? We can have the peace Jesus offers, IF we’re willing to accept it.” Lori Snyder included these words in a devotion and they got me thinking of how too often I switch on and switch off my acceptance of the peace that Jesus offers to all of us. Or, perhaps it’s not that I switch on and off my belief that Jesus the Christ is my Lord and Savior; maybe it’s that I don’t keep His peace at the forefront of everything that I do. I suspect that most people’s lives are similar to mine: Each weekday is segmented into pre-work time, work time, and post-work time. The pre-and post-work times are when I have the greatest amount of time to pray, read the Bible, reflect on all that God provides. But the eight hours of work time are often times chaotic enough that I lose focus of what’s truly important in my life: the peace that Jesus provides. Of course, I could logically argue that it’s not that Jesus’ peace isn’t still available to me during those eight hours, for surely it is; I’m just too busy to consciously reflect on that gift. But isn’t that the challenge that God puts before us? To make Christ a part of every minute of our lives, to have Him always at the forefront of our being; that’s the ultimate goal of being alive.

Prayer: Heavenly Father, hear my words of thanksgiving this day that you watch over me. Let me constantly find the peace attainable only through Jesus Christ, my Lord and Savior. In His name I pray. Amen.

Greg Tubach (reprinted from the Eastridge Daily Devotion book, 2008)

Walk Worthy

That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God. Colossians 1:10

That “new man” is then empowered to “walk worthy.” Ephesians 4:24

I was just reading about Chaplain Gordon Klingenschmitt who was proudly serving our country as a Navy Chaplain who was found guilty of worshiping in public by a Navy judge. He had prayed in Jesus’ name in his uniform on national television. He was honorably discharged, lost his 16-year million-dollar pension, his home, and the honor of serving his country.

Despite his loss, he took comfort in the fact that he was finally found worthy to share in Christ’s suffering.

The story doesn’t end there. After hearing of this injustice, a tidal wave of support formed across the heart of America. 520 newspapers reported on his persecution rallying 300,000 faithful Americans, thirty-five pro-family groups, and seventy-five lawmakers who all petitioned the President to reverse the Navy’s policy targeting Christians. Congress vindicated him for his standing and protecting religious freedom.

Prayer: Dear Father in Heaven, please guide us to all pleasing, fruitful good works which will spread the knowledge of God to others. Please empower us with your spirit to “walk worthy.” Amen.

Sandra Hilsabeck

God's Handiwork

 

But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.  For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. Ephesians 2:4-10

Happy Valentine's Day

 

Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. 1 Corinthians 13:4-8

Let all that you do be done in love. 1 Corinthians 16:14

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16

Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. 1 John 4:8   

Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins. 1 Peter 4:8

And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. Colossians 3:14   

Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. John 15:13

Comfort for God’s People

Comfort, comfort my people,

    says your God.

Speak tenderly to Jerusalem,

    and proclaim to her

that her hard service has been completed,

    that her sin has been paid for,

that she has received from the Lord’s hand

    double for all her sins.

 

A voice of one calling:

“In the wilderness prepare

    the way for the Lord;

make straight in the desert

    a highway for our God.

Every valley shall be raised up,

    every mountain and hill made low;

the rough ground shall become level,

    the rugged places a plain.

And the glory of the Lord will be revealed,

    and all people will see it together.

For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”

 

A voice says, “Cry out.”

    And I said, “What shall I cry?”

 

“All people are like grass,

    and all their faithfulness is like the flowers of the field.

The grass withers and the flowers fall,

    because the breath of the Lord blows on them.

    Surely the people are grass.

The grass withers and the flowers fall,

    but the word of our God endures forever.”

 

You who bring good news to Zion,

    go up on a high mountain.

You who bring good news to Jerusalem,

    lift up your voice with a shout,

lift it up, do not be afraid;

    say to the towns of Judah,

    “Here is your God!”

See, the Sovereign Lord comes with power,

    and he rules with a mighty arm.

See, his reward is with him,

    and his recompense accompanies him.

He tends his flock like a shepherd:

    He gathers the lambs in his arms

and carries them close to his heart;

    he gently leads those that have young.

 

Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand,

    or with the breadth of his hand marked off the heavens?

Who has held the dust of the earth in a basket,

    or weighed the mountains on the scales

    and the hills in a balance?

Who can fathom the Spirit of the Lord,

    or instruct the Lord as his counselor?

Whom did the Lord consult to enlighten him,

    and who taught him the right way?

Who was it that taught him knowledge,

    or showed him the path of understanding?

 

Surely the nations are like a drop in a bucket;

    they are regarded as dust on the scales;

    he weighs the islands as though they were fine dust.

Lebanon is not sufficient for altar fires,

    nor its animals enough for burnt offerings.

Before him all the nations are as nothing;

    they are regarded by him as worthless

    and less than nothing.

 

With whom, then, will you compare God?

    To what image will you liken him?

As for an idol, a metalworker casts it,

    and a goldsmith overlays it with gold

    and fashions silver chains for it.

A person too poor to present such an offering

    selects wood that will not rot;

they look for a skilled worker

    to set up an idol that will not topple.

 

Do you not know?

    Have you not heard?

Has it not been told you from the beginning?

    Have you not understood since the earth was founded?

He sits enthroned above the circle of the earth,

    and its people are like grasshoppers.

He stretches out the heavens like a canopy,

    and spreads them out like a tent to live in.

He brings princes to naught

    and reduces the rulers of this world to nothing.

No sooner are they planted,

    no sooner are they sown,

    no sooner do they take root in the ground,

than he blows on them and they wither,

    and a whirlwind sweeps them away like chaff.

 

“To whom will you compare me?

    Or who is my equal?” says the Holy One.

Lift up your eyes and look to the heavens:

    Who created all these?

He who brings out the starry host one by one

    and calls forth each of them by name.

Because of his great power and mighty strength,

    not one of them is missing.

 

Why do you complain, Jacob?

    Why do you say, Israel,

“My way is hidden from the Lord;

    my cause is disregarded by my God”?

Do you not know?

    Have you not heard?

The Lord is the everlasting God,

    the Creator of the ends of the earth.

He will not grow tired or weary,

    and his understanding no one can fathom.

He gives strength to the weary

    and increases the power of the weak.

Even youths grow tired and weary,

    and young men stumble and fall;

but those who hope in the Lord

    will renew their strength.

They will soar on wings like eagles;

    they will run and not grow weary,

    they will walk and not be faint. Isaiah 40

The Parable of the Lost Son

Jesus continued: “There was a man who had two sons. The younger one said to his father, ‘Father, give me my share of the estate.’ So he divided his property between them.

“Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living. After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need. So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything.

“When he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired servants.’ So he got up and went to his father.

“But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.

“The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’

“But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ So they began to celebrate.

“Meanwhile, the older son was in the field. When he came near the house, he heard music and dancing. So he called one of the servants and asked him what was going on. ‘Your brother has come,’ he replied, ‘and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has him back safe and sound.’

“The older brother became angry and refused to go in. So his father went out and pleaded with him. But he answered his father, ‘Look! All these years I’ve been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!’

“‘My son,’ the father said, ‘you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’” Luke 15:11-31