“I sat where they sat.” The Lord brought Ezekiel to the place where he could sit with the captives and feel their burdens, disappointment, and misery. How important it is for us to learn to weep with those who weep as well as rejoice with them. It is not enough that we only do the latter.
Our Lord was acquainted with others’ grief, and so must we, if we are to be profitable to the hurting. If we cannot at least try to imagine ourselves in the same condition, it is doubtful we can comfort them. In such cases, we become like Job’s friends—“miserable comforters.”
Like Ezekiel, we must be astonished and overwhelmed by their misery and grief before we pour in the healing oil. The attitude that says, “I thank thee, that I am not as other men...” will never suffice in lifting up the fallen.
Think of me as a fellow-patient in the same hospital who, having been admitted a little earlier, gives some advice.
(C.S. Lewis)
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