It Was Good of You To Share in My Troubles

We demonstrate our trust in God in the way we serve and take care of others…in our willingness to depart with our most prized possessions. And possessions are not just material things. We express our trust in the Great Provider when we are willing to serve our brothers and sisters by offering of our time, our thoughts, our talents, our prayers and even our loved ones.

10 I rejoiced greatly in the Lord that at last you renewed your concern for me. Indeed, you were concerned, but you had no opportunity to show it…

14 Yet it was good of you to share in my troubles.

17 Not that I desire your gifts; what I desire is that more be credited to your account. 18 I have received full payment and have more than enough. I am amply supplied, now that I have received from Epaphroditus the gifts you sent. They are a fragrant offering, an acceptable sacrifice, pleasing to God. 

Philippians 4: 10, 14, 17-18

This combination of verses from Philippians 4 takes me back two years ago to the day. I was entering a treatment process for thyroid cancer which even though not as involved and devastating as other types of treatment…it was none the less just as frightening.

As part of the treatment, I needed to be in isolation for 5 days. I spent those five days in a house all by myself. However, I was not alone. I had an outpouring of love and prayers which covered me and sustained me throughout the process. Dear friends from my home-church brought me meals every day. And members of the new church we had begun attending after moving to a different town brought meals to my husband and sons back at home. I received notes of encouragement and messages of hope by cards, phone calls, e-mails and texts. The presence of the Holy Spirit was evident all around me in the presence of those who took the time to express their love in the offering of themselves to me in my hour of need. I certainly “rejoiced greatly in the Lord” as my friends showed their concern for me. And I am sure; their gestures were, indeed, “a fragrant offering, an acceptable sacrifice, pleasing to God.”

As they continue to share in my troubles, little by little, the acts of kindness of those around me have contributed to helping me in my walk to fully trust Him...to fully trust in His provision. I pray that, likewise, as I continue in my path, I too also learn that by sharing in the troubles of those alongside my journey, I am growing in the confidence that God is Trustworthy and Faithful.

May our confidence and trust in Our Heavenly Father grow stronger with every opportunity we have to show concern for others.