Weekly Thought – June 23, 2026
Fred’s friend Steve Brown urges believers to be “free in Christ.” Freedom comes at a price – whether the blood of Jesus or the blood of Americans throughout the centuries. Independence Day reminds us of Fred’s last days when he learned to be “delightfully dependent.”
True Comfort
We walk together in this “vale of tears.” No one is exempt from the dark that sometimes obscures the path. We can comfort or we can sympathize – I prefer comfort.
Oftentimes sympathy is synthetic empathy. Sympathy is sometimes offered to a troubled person by one who is not with relative ease. Sympathy can get in the way of God’s work as Chambers points out, “Be careful not to work against God in sympathizing with those with whom He is working.” Strong words!
Sympathy can be an addictive emotion and one that cripples the receiver. Loss can develop into a syndrome of sympathy blocking healthy relationships. Conversations begin and end with an emotional discussion of the loss. No doubt Christ was cutting through this psychological thicket when he asked the man at the pool, “Would you be made whole?”
I usually ask, “When do you want to get over this hurt?” Then I follow it with, “What are you willing to do to get over it?” Pharaoh was not willing to do what it took to rid himself of the frogs. Too often when we have problems we, too, want “one more night with the frogs.”
I have talked about the ills of empathy to set the backdrop for the merits of true comfort. Comfort recognizes the hurt without placing blame. Comfort shares the hurt. The word “compassion” means “with pain”… when we are compassionate we are with the other person in their hurt. I saw an older widow comfort a younger one by simply asking, “It hurts, doesn’t it?”
Serious hurt always casts a shadow over alternatives. A man facing serious financial disaster came to talk. We explored options he hadn’t considered. They shed small rays of hope. When he left I thought how hypocritical it would have been to appear sympathetic, quote some scripture, and promise to pray for him.
Comfort is a process by which we try to find opportunities for healing, unknown avenues of explanation, and understanding. Comfort is never clichés. True comfort is unique, personal, one to one.
Comfort lights a candle in the darkness.
Think carefully about: 1) Which is easier for me – sympathy or true comfort? 2) What brings me comfort? 3) Who is hurting I can comfort?
Words of Wisdom: “Comfort shares the hurt.”
Wisdom from the Word: “Blessed is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles so that we may be able to comfort those experiencing any trouble with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.” (2 Corinthians 1:3,4 NET Bible)