Let God Work

As Christians, it is quite natural to many of  us to comfort those who we see are hurting. God has called us to do that. Some of us are better at it than others, but none of us want to see someone else in pain. It is something that is necessary and important.

However, this week at camp, I was told something that really made me stop and think.....sometimes God is dealing with someone and in that moment our comfort does more harm than good. Let me explain...

Sometimes we are so quick to jump in and comfort someone when we see them reduced to tears in a situation or if we see someone struggling with something, we try to minimize it to make them feel better. I am not saying that this is wrong, but time and place are SOOOOO important!

God sometimes convicts someone of something and we need to just let God work. This is especially hard for me, personally. I hurt for those who are hurting and I really try to go out of my way to show them love and be there for them, but I think sometimes I need to be more careful about how I go about that.

What I mean to be good, may end up causing more harm than anything else. Now, some of you are probably thinking that I have really overthought this, but think about this....

If someone you loved dearly was to die, would comfort really help? I mean, it is good and kind and should be offered, but it is honestly a temporary band aid. At some point, you will have to face the fact that the one you love is truly gone and you'll have to work through those emotions. No kind words will take the obvious away: The person you love is dead.

That doesn't mean we shouldn't comfort and love on each other (The Bible commands us to do so and it is important to support each other in the body of Christ), but we must also seek God in how to go about loving on someone. Sometimes it is better to leave that person to God and wait to comfort them because they need to face reality (Such as: If I were to steal something, time does not make me want to return the item more, it just gives me more time to make excuses!) We need to let people be responsible for their sin (if that is the cause of their pain), but more than that.....we need to realize that only God can comfort in a way that changes lives. Only He knows the heart of a person and only He can comfort someone in the way they truly need.

Yes, we need to learn to comfort people (Some of us need a longer lesson in this than others), but we also need to learn to seek God when we do it so we do not interfere with what He is doing.