In the darkest times and the deepest pain, it is not uncommon to feel completely alone.

It seems cruel. An order of pain with a side of loneliness.

It makes one question their faith.

Why would God leave us alone?

Our faith tells us that God leaves us feeling alone so that we find him. It tells us that if the rest of the world hadn’t walked away, that we wouldn’t be pushed closer to our spirituality. We also know that God meets us in this darkness to force us to grow, adjust our path and become better people.

God intends for these struggles to make us students of the heart and then to pass those lessons along to others. For us to send a card that we otherwise wouldn’t have, to offer a sympathetic ear, to help a person struggling through their day or make a meal. God intends us to not only grow as people in our own individual strength but to grow in love.

1. Empathy: It is simply a fact, that it is often difficult to understand another human being’s pain unless one has experienced it. Empathy allows a deep feeling of connection which eases the isolation and suffering of an individual. It produces a respect for the trials and tribulations of life and the acknowledges the support that a person in pain not only needs but craves.

2. Kindness: Kindness is the ultimate grace in life. When we are alone with God in our own suffering, we have a heightened awareness and appreciation to those who show us kindness. It is emotional currency when the pain has bankrupted us. It is a human investment that multiplies long after the darkness lifts and the light shines because we remember to extend it to the next person.

3. Generosity: The suffering grows our empathy and kindness so drastically that there is a greater generosity within us. A generosity of spirit, of time, of resources and of love. The emotional growth makes us more aware of the pain of others and makes us want to give more. To not only give back to those who gave to us but to possess the inability to simply turn the other way.

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