Supporting others in difficult seasons

When others go through a difficult time, we might feel frozen in a state of not knowing how to support them. I have often found myself thinking, “I don’t know what to do or say to help”. I think a lot of people can relate to this sense of helplessness we may feel when people we care about have a devastation occur. I’ve had this feeling many times, but specifically when one of my closest friends lost a parent. I wish I could take the pain away from her and make her situation better, but unfortunately, I knew I couldn’t. I spent a lot of time praying, asking God how I could help her through this situation. Through this experience, and similar experiences, I realized the power in prayer and mutual comfort.

In a recent sermon I watched from Sadie Robertson Huff, she discussed that same feeling of wanting to do things to make someone’s situation better. She had been trying to do so many practical things to help her friend who was going through a difficult time, but she realized, however, that prayer was what she had to offer. So often we stew about ways we can help and what we can do, but prayer is the most effective and powerful thing we bring to the table. Our relationship with Jesus is so precious and personal that it holds power. When the Holy Spirit lives within us, the power that raised Jesus from the grave lives in us through Him. Perhaps the best thing we can do for those who are hurting is to pray for them. This sermon greatly impacted the way I view supporting others in difficult seasons. It made me realize that all the resources in the world combined would come nowhere near close to the power of prayer.

Although prayer is the most powerful thing that we have to offer to those who are hurting, there are still other ways that can show your loved one that you are supporting them through their difficulties. One of the best things we can do to help people going through a difficult season is to simply be there for them. There are no perfect words to be said that can make their pain entirely go away and to make their situation disappear. However, being present with them and feeling their sadness with them provides a sense of comfort. When I was experiencing a great loss, I received many messages of support and encouragement, but one that stuck out to me the most is a simple text that said, “I’m sharing in your sadness today”. Knowing that someone was empathizing with my pain and sadness was really all I needed in that moment. I didn’t need these huge expressions of sympathy or for someone to fix it; I just needed someone to sit with me in my sorrow for a little bit.

Another beautiful expression of support is a handwritten card. Even when there are no perfect words to say, just sending a card of support, encouragement, or genuine care shows the other person that you recognize their pain. They aren’t looking for someone to say the perfect words, they will just be touched that someone took the time to write them a card. Being thought of by someone else is such a touching feeling. Often, when I do not know how to show my support to someone who is hurting, I pick up a pen and start writing a card to them. I pray for God to give me the words to say, and that God would work in ways that only He can through the card.

I truly believe that when you invite the Holy Spirit into your life, He fills it fully and works through your simple acts of compassion to bless others. Praying for others, being there for them, and sending an encouraging word to them provides comfort during hardship. We are given the precious gift to be able to comfort others through the same comfort we have received from Jesus. “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all our comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God. For just as we share abundantly in the sufferings of Christ, so also our comfort abounds through Christ” 2 Corinthians 1:3-5