Several years ago I got a group of people together online who were going through difficult times. My plan was to meet with them each day for 30 days to provide them with encouragement from God’s Word as I shared the struggle I had made it through. I think we were about a week into it when one of the participants messaged me and said, “We get it that you made it through. What we need to know is how you made it through.” It was an aha moment for me as a writer, but as I went to answer her, I realized I hadn’t stopped to consider the steps I had taken to survive. The group quickly fizzled out because I didn’t have that answer. I wanted to help them, but just because I had walked where they were walking didn’t help them much. It gave them hope that they could survive, but still left them without a roadmap out.
There are several books of the Bible that share with us the struggles that David went through. He waited nearly 15 years from the time he was anointed king to becoming king, he ran from Saul, faced a coup from his son, sinned against God and so much more. His life was not perfect and he went through a lot. Reading about those things is inspiring, but it’s the Psalms that draw us in because they are the roadmap. They share how he survived those trials and consequences. He writes out where he put his hope, how he trusted God and that he needed a new heart. They speak to us more than the stories because as we go through difficulties, we need practical information of how to get through things.
2 Corinthians 1:4 says, “He helps us in all our troubles, so that we are able to help others who have all kinds of troubles, using the same help that we ourselves have received from God” (GNT). If you’ve made it through troubled times, think about how you made it through so you can help those who will go through something similar later. If you’re going through hard times now, keep a journal. It may be the key that helps someone else later. Your trials are not without purpose. Yes, they help purify you and strengthen you, but they’re also so that you can help someone else later. God helps us through difficult times, but there are practical things you’re doing or have done that other will need to know. Don’t get stuck without an answer like I was. Be prepared to help with a roadmap when the time comes.
Devotions by Chris Hendrix 
As a fellow helper and encourager, I can definitely identify with this post. There have been a few times in my life when my desire to help others was greater than my ability to do so. In your case, at least you tried. Yes, the people you were trying to help needed concrete answers, but perhaps their answers were going to be different than yours.
I’ve been to rock bottom and back, and I’m not sure I could give someone else a multi-step process of how it happened. I only know God got me through it as I clung to Him. That’s my story though, and this is your blog.
I enjoy your posts. They always make me think. Blessings!
Thanks. I’ve been to rock bottom and back. That question haunted me for a while. It changed how I approach people who need help. I like to tell them that our circumstances aren’t the same, but the pain is. God pulled me through and He will pull you through too. I’ve learned to show how I relied on God during the time, what scriptures and songs gave me hope and steps I took along the way to keep me alive and from going crazy.
You’re right the exact steps I took may not work for someone else, but how I relied on God will.
Thanks again.
I had to make a decision to love, depression had wiped that out, this was the first step out before I was healed completely, for me it was realizing this is a commandment and forcing myself to obey and do it even though I did not want to at the time.
That’s a great point. Getting out of troubled times means making a decision to get out and then doing things we don’t want to do that are often hard. Thanks for sharing.
Thank you 😊