{"id":14039,"date":"2026-02-02T03:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-02-02T08:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/?p=14039"},"modified":"2025-12-22T14:55:57","modified_gmt":"2025-12-22T19:55:57","slug":"bearing-with-one-another","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/2026\/02\/02\/bearing-with-one-another\/","title":{"rendered":"Bearing With One Another"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Two-minute read.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cLord, give me some of their pain.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Years ago, I heard those words, and they struck me. I can\u2019t remember the details of the story, but I have never forgotten their prayer request. And, at times, I\u2019ve prayed the seven words for me when walking through a valley with someone in excruciating pain. What the person asked, and what I\u2019ve asked, doesn\u2019t mean we want pain, but instead we want to take some of the pain away from our loved one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Having had several friends who have lost children, I have wanted to take away their pain. Mothers, when they give birth, retain some of their children\u2019s cells in their bodies. They have a connection that no one else on earth can share. Losing an offspring means losing part of themselves, and I will never understand the depth of that pain. They never stop grieving their loss, and they always carry the heartache with them. Nothing anyone can do will take away their devastation, but we can empathize with them, grieve with them, and do our best to share their pain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“The heart knows its own bitterness, and a stranger does not share its joy.”<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Proverbs 14:10<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Respecting someone’s pain helps share their burden. Whether you\u2019ve experienced something like the person or not, everyone grieves differently, whatever the loss. Loving them well means giving them space to do what they need to do and not expecting them to do it the way you would. Often, we want to rush people through their heartache so that things will go back to normal. But when someone experiences a profound loss, the old normal no longer exists, and we shouldn\u2019t try to force it. Instead, we should come alongside them and do our best to support them in their time of need. By doing so, we will bear one another\u2019s burdens and help each other persevere through the tough days of life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Everyone has hurts, whether we can see them or not. Reminding ourselves that everyone has hidden struggles will help us lead with grace. As we become more like Jesus, we will learn to carry each other\u2019s burdens, whatever they may look like. Sometimes we become prayer warriors, other times we become God\u2019s hands and feet. Whatever the Lord calls us to do, He equips us to do it. We don\u2019t need all the answers to every situation; we can trust the One who does and follow Him. Jesus will show us how to carry others\u2019 burdens.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 Journal Questions:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Who has helped carry your burdens and how?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Share a time when you helped carry someone\u2019s burdens?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How does Jesus help bear your burdens?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Friendship Application:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Bear with one another today by finding a way to share their burden.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Two-minute read. \u201cLord, give me some of their pain.\u201d Years ago, I heard those words, and they struck me. I can\u2019t remember the details of the story, but I have never forgotten their prayer request. And, at times, I\u2019ve prayed the seven words for me when walking through a valley with someone in excruciating pain.… Continue reading Bearing With One Another<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14039","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","without-featured-image"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14039","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14039"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14039\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14045,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14039\/revisions\/14045"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14039"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14039"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14039"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}