Yesterday we talked about being present in suffering and how it enables us to endure and learn from the winters of our lives. Today, I want to share with you one final thing that will help you to grow and bless people in wilderness seasons: be present with others in their suffering.

Whether you are currently in a winter season or you have recently come into spring, you have a wonderful opportunity to be present with others who are enduring their own pain. Everyone going through a hard time needs someone to walk in the valley with them. The only thing worse than suffering is suffering alone. Those of us who have experienced it understand that our deepest desire when we go through a struggle is not to have people “fix us,” but to have someone be with us, love us where we’re at, let us cry, and empathize with our pain. You need this as you walk through the winters of your life and so do those suffering alongside you.

Friend, you don’t have to be completely out of your wilderness before you help somebody through theirs. Be the person who is willing to journey with others and sit with them in their pain. Don’t resent the ones who couldn’t do that for you, but learn from them and strive every day to develop empathy and compassion. Following in the footsteps of Jesus, be present and available to those who are suffering; as you do, your own pain will be relieved and your soul will find healing that couldn’t have come through any other means. Isn’t that great news?