Throughout my adult life, God has allowed me to feel the pain of my brothers and sisters in Christ. There have been seasons where I could be at my workplace and step into a mode of prayer. When I was in that mode, I found out it was because one of my sisters in Christ was going through. There have been seasons where I have felt the stress and hurting of the hearts of pastors. When I felt that pain, I would encourage them through prayer and let them know that God has your battles fought for you. There have been seasons where I even felt the pain of my family and friends. As a child of the King, I would intercede on their behalf for God to step in and rectify the situation. As I think about how God allows me to feel the pain of others and even feel happiness for others, He wants you to do the same! He wants you to tell your family member, your co-worker, and/or your friend, that “Hey, I am feeling you”. Today’s text provides how one should feel for the other.
Today’s message brings us to an epistle written by Paul to the church at Rome. Romans and 1 Corinthians are the longest Pauline Epistles (or letters written by Paul to the churches in Asia Minor (modern-day Turkey and Italy)) with 16 chapters. Romans, according to scholars, is a book that talks about God, who He is, and what He has done. As Paul was penning this twelfth chapter, he dealt with two critical areas: living sacrifices (verses 1-8) and love (verses 9 – 21). Within the discussion of love is where we find Paul’s thought on how we should feel or be there for one another.
Paul begins ministering this portion of the text by saying, “Rejoice with those who rejoice”. One of the things that grieves me about people, in this particular season, is that they are only concerned about one person and that’s themselves. Doesn’t it grieve you as well? Doesn’t it strike a nerve with you when God has elevated within your workplace and all of a sudden, others are saying how they cannot wait to get theirs? Doesn’t it grieve you when God blesses you with the vehicle your heart desires and others do not participate in the celebration? Well, Paul is encouraging us to feel our brothers and sisters when their seasons of celebration are in effect! When a sister/brother is getting married to the “right one”, rejoice with them! When a brother/sister receives that promotion, you ought to rejoice with them! When a brother/sister joins the body of Christ, you ought to rejoice with them! When God blesses someone to watch their child graduate from high school, an university, a community college, or any kind of college, you ought to rejoice with them! We ought to feel happiness and rejoice with our brother/sister and not have the crab syndrome of bringing down to our levels of misery!
The text concludes by Paul ministering this thought, “Mourn with those who mourn”. During the seasons of death and bereavement, we often learn who our true friends are. We learn about those who genuinely care. We learn about those who say the Word of prayer on our behalf and legitimately means it. One lesson that our pastor engrains within our minds is to pay respects to those within your church body that has lost a loved one because you never know when death will come knocking on your family’s door. Also, there are times and seasons where the people of God need to know that you are sensitive to their needs. I recall a couple of years ago when my aunt passed, it was truly a hurting time for my father and in turn, a hurting time for myself as well. One thing I kept in the back of my mind is that I needed to be strong for my family during this time and yet, show my side of mourning. If we can allow people to see that we are feeling them through their times of pain, hurt, disappointment, despair, and any other hurt, then they would see that we are following God’s Word and want to strive to be more Christ-like!
In closing, my encouragement to you on today is that God will open up your heart, even the more. I pray that He opens your heart in such a way where you can feel the pains/happiness of your brothers and sisters in Christ. When those feelings kick in, then you are doing what Paul was ministering about here: being able to rejoice with the rejoicers and being able to mourn with the mourners. He needs that versatility from you and so does your brothers and sisters!
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment