They Have it Worse

We all suffer from time to time. We all have our doubts when life comes crashing in and we feel like we are being tugged by the undertow. We all sin. We all face trials.

It is easy to get so caught up in your own personal struggles that you get tunnel vision. You become so fixated on your own issues you fail to notice others suffering worse right beneath your nose. I thank God that every so often He opens my eyes to remind me of how many have it worse than me. Just read the following to see what I mean.

On New Year's Day early in the morning a beloved father, husband, and faithful brother in the Lord was killed in tragic car accident about one mile from his house. What a way to start of 2014 for that family. A college buddy of mine had a horrible 2013. He fell down some stairs injuring his knee which will require surgery. Not long afterward his other knee gave out going up some stairs. He fell tumbling down the stairs and knocking himself out. He injured his back in the fall. Not long afterward he was fired from his job. Months later he lost his house. A visit to the doctor revealed that he had a heart attack at some point though he was unaware of it. His joy and faith inspire me.

I recently saw a picture of a mother with her two children who struggle because her husband was martyred by Muslims in their country. You can see the sorrow in her eyes and the despair on the children's faces. They have it worse than I do.

I spent yesterday with a grieving widow who just this week lost her soul mate unexpectedly. Brenda went to a funeral last week for a high school friend who died of cancer just a couple of days before Christmas. The daughter of the deceased is so upset and under so much stress it has made her physically sick. The grieving husband and father commented through tears, those were the times when his daughter really needed her mother but now she is gone.

My mind now drifts to the people I know who live with chronic pain. They never have a good day when they are pain free. The pain never subsides. There might be days when the pain is more tolerable but it never goes away. These suffering saints struggle with depression at the thought of never getting better. The hopelessness and despair nearly strangle the life out of them.

I have seen far too many watch their loved ones suffer horrifically from cancer. I have stood by the side of those grieving at the graveside with questions of why God took their loved one so soon.

People all around us struggle. Some of them suffer silently. You don't have to look very far to see someone who has it worse than you do.

Several years ago I was going through a tough season in ministry. One weekend I hit rock bottom but I was scheduled to preach in Plano. My heart was not in it. I willed myself to preach each message. On Saturday night God set up a divine appointment I will never forget. A man came to eat at my table for dinner. Before long everyone else had left but the two of us. God used that man to minister to me. I don't know why he opened up to me but he did. He poured out his soul to me even though I was a relative stranger to him.

He began asking me if I remembered the story of a daycare being held hostage by a gunman months before. I had seen the story on the news. He told me his wife and son were some of the ones held hostage that day. He feared he would lose them both. God protected them. What he said next stunned me. I can still recall the distant look in his eyes when he told me he and his wife had just discovered she had cancer. He had not told his kids, extended family, pastor, or friends. He had not told anyone yet. Why he chose to tell me I still do not know other than God used that encounter to remind me that many people have it worse than me.

I am betting the same is true for you. I get it. Believe you me. I get it. Life is not easy. It is filled with sorrows, broken dreams, regrets, pain, disease, heartaches, and trials of every shape and form. My challenge to you is that you take a few moments to contemplate someone who has it worse than you do. I challenge you to go a step further and to pray for them. This morning I prayed for some persecuted Christians in a Muslim country, for a grieving widow, for a brokenhearted and weary sister in Christ, for a brother in Christ just diagnosed with cancer, for a chronically ill sister in the Lord who never has good days without excruciating pain, and for a former church member involved in a horrible atv accident causing severe injuries. They all have it worse than me. [Gal 6:2] "Bear one another's burdens and thus fulfill the law of Christ." One way to do that is to intercede for others. To the pit of hell with pity parties. There are suffering people all around us who need our intercessions. May our eyes continually be opened to those who have it worse off than we do.