I pray that you are allowing healing to take place in your hearts and lives and are being strengthened for the days to come.
Today, I want to talk to you about "Empathy in Action". What is empathy, some of you are asking. It is a deeper, more sincere form of sympathy. Sympathy says, "Gee, I'm sorry that happened to you." It's passive. It's the expected response when something bad happens to someone. Empathy says, "I understand. I've been there. I feel your pain. I'm going to help you through this."
Jesus is the picture of empathy. It's the whole reason He came to earth in the flesh, was born as a human (not in a fine home, but in a stable). It's the reason He was homeless (Matthew 8:20). It's the reason He was hated and misunderstood. Jesus felt every emotion we feel, encountered every situation we will ever face and had even felt forsaken by God. Jesus had been tortured and even had to experience death. He endured all this so that when we struggle or fall, He can stand up for us and say, "But, Father, I've been there. I know how hard that is to handle in the flesh." Jesus feels our pain because he's experienced it. He can help us through because He, Himself, has overcome.
We, too, are called to be Empathy in Action. Galatians 6:2 tells us we are to bear one another's burdens. We do that through empathy. It's the reason we are allowed to experience the difficult and terrible things in this life.
My mom has had a difficult life. She has had to go through things I'd wish on no one. Two of the hardest were the death of her oldest son and surviving breast cancer. My mom is the kindest, most loving and giving person I know. She loves Jesus with all her heart. So why did these heart-wrenching things happen to her? They happened so she could experience empathy in action.
When my brother died, mom was devasted, but her good friend, Twinkie was there for her. Twinkie is a pastor's wife whose son died many years previously in a drowning accident. Twinkie understood what my mom was feeling. She felt her pain and was equipped to help her through it. Recently Twinkie was diagnosed with breast cancer. And my mom was able to be there for her. She understood what Twinkie was feeling, knew the thoughts and fears she had, and was equipped to be empathy in action for her friend, as her friend had been for her.
They say what doesn't kill you makes you stronger. I believe that's true. It gives you the strength to bear one another's burdens. It gives you the ability to empathize.
Don't sympathize with another's plight, my friends. "Gee, that's too bad", doesn't help anyone. Be empathy in action. Let the traumas you've experienced become a help and a blessing to someone else.
It's time we quit whining about the raw deal we've gotten and time to use our bad experiences for good. As Jesus empathizes with us, so we must empathize with others.
Following the Master, Raelynn
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