Alongside

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. – 2 Corinthians 1: 3-4 (MSG)

Over the last few months I’ve had the privilege of spending time with several women in a Grief Share group. Many are widows who have become friends as they have loved and encouraged each other. They have shared from their own brokeness and heartache which, in its own way, has helped others to know that they are not alone in their pain and loss. They have laughed and cried together while sharing things that worked and didn’t work for them.

Each has mentioned how they have found comfort and healing by spending more time with God in prayer and in His word. It has been a beautiful thing to watch today’s passage lived out by these wonderful women.

There are many other types of hard times that people go through and God is present in each and every one of them if we choose to see Him. He comes alongside us, guides us, sometimes carries us and always loves us. We are never alone.

What a gift it is when He sends others who have walked those roads before us, who can come alongside us and give us the hope, comfort and peace they have received. Then, we get the privilege of being that same gift to others.

What a loving God we serve! He has made a way when there seems to be no way. He is the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort.