Have you ever felt the weight of the world pressing down on you and needed time alone to mourn it all? In those moments, the last thing in the world we need is to listen to someone else’s problems and sympathize with their troubles, or is it? Is it possible that during incredibly distressful times, instead of seeking only to be alone to “process” it all, maybe empathizing with someone else who is dealing with difficulties is exactly what we need to uplift our spirits?

Dare I take it a step further in my contemplations? What if right smack in the middle of our needed solitude to cry our hearts out, that other person with all the problems also needs you to feed them? Let’s be reasonable about this. Right? I mean, come on, we need time alone to deal with substantial grief before we can even begin to go above and beyond helping someone else who is grief-stricken at the very same moment. 

I’m beginning to think a bit differently about said scenario and have started to realize that compassion toward others isn’t about only expressing it when the time for us to do so feels right. Allow me to explain based on scripture within Matthew 14. 

In this scripture, keep in mind that Jesus has now received news that his beloved cousin, John the Baptist, had just been beheaded. On top of that, John’s head was then placed on a platter to be displayed because of a sickening request during a banquet for King Herod’s birthday. 

So, at Matthew 14:13-14 this account continues, “When Jesus heard what had happened, he withdrew by boat privately to a solitary place. Hearing of this, the crowds followed him on foot from the towns. When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them and healed their sick.”

The very first time I read that, as soon as I got to the part in verse 14 that says,
“When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd…” I expected the rest of it to state something like this: “Jesus sighed and dropped His head back before sighing again. Then said, ‘Please leave me alone for a while so I can grieve the horrendous death of my much-loved cousin.’”

It does not say such a thing though! It says that Jesus, “had compassion on them and healed their sick.” Goodness gracious! I was not expecting that response. I guess this shows where my heart goes in times such as that. At that moment, I realized though, that maybe when we are in the midst of despair, the amount of time we think we need to deal with it may be far less than we actually think it is. 

Is it possible that during times of overwhelming distress, we need to open our hearts to act with compassion toward others? Taking it a step further, I wonder if when we want to be alone sometimes to dwell in our pity-parties, God has a ministry of compassion within us for others who are also hurting. 

I say this because Jesus, amid wanting complete solitude to grieve the awful death of His cousin, not only showed compassion to others, he healed the sick AND, we learn from Matthew 14:15-21 that Jesus fed over 5,000 people with five loaves of bread and two fish! 

Maybe there really is something to be gained from taking the focus off ourselves when we think we are justified in being self-serving. Maybe this compassion extended to someone else becomes a ministry that gets us out of misery.