A True Bond of Love

Last night in my woman's Bible study we talked about Kay Warren's book 'Dangerous Surrender'. The chapter we were studying was called 'An Unexpected Bond'. The study opened with a testimony of two of our group members. I learned that God wants us to share in the suffering of others and in this suffering we will be blessed and the person we are sharing with will be blessed. Okay...that's sounds good and all but I raised my hand and asked, "How do you do that? How do you share in someone else's pain and suffering?"
Peggy McDonald lost her husband a few months ago to cancer. A friend of hers, Kay lost her husband to cancer right before Peggy did. Although both women miss their husbands, Peggy has taken it upon herself to share in Kay's pain.. Peggy is helping Kay cope with day to day things. She is always there when Kay needs her and cries with Kay when Kay just needs to cry... Peggy feels Kay's grief and has helped to take some of the pain away from Kay...
A couple of years ago, my youngest daughter started fainting. She fainted several times in a two to three week period of time.. I took her to get a MRI. After her test, I asked the MRI technician if there was any red flags... he nodded yes and I sent my daughter to the restroom...He showed me where she had a large cyst/tumor pressing up against the front of her brain...I was scared out of my mind...I called my church and asked them to put out an urgent prayer request...the following Sunday many people came up to me and said that they were lifting her and us in prayer. During the service, my daughter asked if I would go with her to pray at the alter.. I did and when we stood up to go back to our seats.. behind us were many of our church families down on their knees praying too. What a humbling experience. The next day, the doctor's office called to say her MRI looked normal and everything was fine....the fainting stopped...
The fellowship of mutual care, of communion with each other, means that in the deepest sense possible we are truly never alone again - never alone in our pain, never alone in our joy, never alone in our shame, never alone in our success and failures. We belong to a community - the Body of Christ...