We discussed yesterday how being present in pain allows us to withstand and learn from our life’s winters. Today, I have one last tip with you that will help you grow and bless others during your wilderness seasons: be present with others in their pain.

You have the fantastic opportunity to be present with those who are experiencing their own pain, whether you are now in a winter season or have recently entered spring. Everyone who is going through a difficult moment requires someone to accompany them through the valley. Pain alone is the only thing worse than suffering. Those of us who have been through it know that our innermost need when we are in pain is not for someone to try to “fix us” but to be there with us, to love us as we are, to let us cry, and to empathize with our suffering. As you travel through the winters of your life, you will need this, as will those who are suffering alongside you.

Friend, you don’t have to be entirely out of your wilderness before you can help someone else get out of theirs.  Be the one who is willing to accompany people on their trip and sit with them in their suffering. Don’t be resentful of those who couldn’t help you; instead, learn from them and seek to acquire empathy and compassion every day. Be present and available to others who are suffering, following in Jesus’ footsteps; as you do, your own pain will be relieved, and your soul will find healing that could not have occurred through any other means. Isn’t this wonderful news?