The Lame Leading the Lame

We're all familiar with the phrase "the blind leading the blind," right?  As Christians, we are blessed in that we can say we were blind but now we see--maybe not with physical eyes, but certainly with spiritual ones.  Our salvation has equipped us with eyes of faith, so we will never be the blind leading the blind.  We have a vision, and with that vision, we can lead others to Christ.

That is not to say, however, that we won't sometimes feel like the lame leading the lame.  Burdened Christians helping to encourage and lift up other burdened Christians.  Let's face it, we all have our share of trouble on this earth, and often those troubles can weigh us down to the point that we feel we can't even walk.  But then, a brother or sister in Christ shares their burden, and we feel the need to help lift them up.  But how does the lame lead the lame?  How can we lift up our fellow believers when we feel so downhearted and weary ourselves?  Second Corinthians 1:3-5 has the answer to that:

Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort; Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God. For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also aboundeth by Christ.

In essence, God says that He will comfort us so that we can pass that comfort on to others.  Does that mean that our problems simply vanish away?  Unfortunately not, but it does mean that God will give us the strength not only to make it through but to help others make it through as well.  And just think, while He's doing that for you, He's doing the same thing for someone else--giving them comfort so that they can, in turn, comfort you.  It's like a big circle of encouragement where everyone receives so everyone has something to give.  And in that way, the lame are truly leading the lame.

Also, God makes a point of reminding us that our suffering is not in vain.  He says that our sufferings abound so that our encouragement to others can also abound.  The more we suffer; the more encouragement we have to give.  Sounds backward, I know, but God has the whole thing figured out, and He doesn't want us to waste our time in self-pity when we should be helping others to bear their burdens.

I don't know what you may be facing today, but I can assure you that God will give you the grace and strength you need to get through it.  In the meantime, look for someone else who is also suffering (it shouldn't be hard in these dark days), and ask the Lord to reveal some ways that you can pass on the comfort that He has given you.  I'm sure He'll share a few ideas.