Even Jesus Wept

It's easy to find fair-weather friends. I've had many. These are friends who will be quick to laugh and celebrate with you when things are going well for you; but those same friends are nowhere to be found when life gets tough.  It's in life's painful circumstances that often times, you find yourself alone in your sadness.  My experience has been that some people just don't seem to know how to respond to someone else's pain for very long, or even at all.  They might be able to tolerate it for a moment, even show a little sympathy by saying something like "sending prayers" or by giving a hug; but then they disappear, leaving you to deal with your hurt...alone.  It's like they view your pain as something outside their "circle", and they just don't want to step out of theirs and into yours.

I found myself in a situation not too long ago where I witnessed a friend in the midst of one of life's terrible storms....one of the scariest I've seen.  She was hurting, and I couldn't help but absorb some of her pain onto myself.  I began crying right along with her as she poured her heart out.  Her hurt became MY hurt.  I felt a pain so deep in my heart for her that it seemed as if the pain was truly my own.  It was then that this verse took on a whole new meaning for me:

"Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep." -Romans 12:15

What good are we to people if we aren't willing to step outside of our own worlds long enough to empathize with theirs?  And I mean REALLY empathize, allowing ourselves the freedom to feel what they are feeling in that moment.  Sympathy is "feeling compassion, sorry, or pity for the hardships that another encounters".  Sympathy is a good start, but empathy takes us a step further by putting ourselves in the shoes of another.  Empathy is the ability to experience the feelings of another person.

John 11 tells of a time where Jesus Himself grieved with others. He was at the tomb of a man named Lazarus who had died just a few days prior to Jesus getting there. When He saw Mary and others weeping, "He was greatly disturbed in spirit and deeply moved." (verse 33) Then, in verse 35, it says "Jesus wept."  This was JESUS, God in flesh, who knew He would ultimately raise Lazarus from the dead, yet He took the time to feel the pain of loss surrounding Him!

I have been guilty in the past of trying to detach myself from the pain of others. I don't want to do that anymore.  I want to really listen to people. I want to try to put myself in their shoes, even if that means that I might even feel pain. I want to allow myself to share not only in their laughter, but in their tears.  Then maybe, they will be able to see genuine care and concern that goes beyond sympathy. Maybe they will be able to feel real love in the midst of their suffering...a love that the world doesn't offer.  A Jesus-type love.