Have you ever had the opportunity to visit Hawaii? I was blessed to go with my family in 2007. My kids were old enough to help plan the adventure. We wanted to take it all in and do everything we could in a week. We went to a luau, visited Pearl Harbor, took surfing lessons, hiked to waterfalls, ate enough pineapple to feed a third world country, snorkeled everywhere we could, visited the North Shore, and at the end of the week we decided to hike Diamond Head. It was hot and the hike was steep. That wasn’t a struggle for me. I work out on a daily basis and really set the pace for the hike at a pretty good speed. My difficulty came when I reached the tunnels you have to go through to get to the top. Did I mention I am profoundly claustrophobic? I had to go up a very steep set of steps and then enter a tunnel and I couldn’t see the end of it. My heart started racing immediately. I hated to think I would have to sit this one out. We’d done everything on this trip together as a family, but this was more than I could handle.
My son, Sam, is quite possibly the greatest encourager I know. He immediately shot past me and went deep enough into the tunnel to see the end and came back to me telling me exactly what I could expect, then he took my hand and placed it on his shoulder and held onto me. “We can do this mom.” He said. He started walking, talking me through every step. After about two steps, I felt Laura’s hand on my back and she began telling me how great I was doing. My husband was pulling up the rear making sure no one came blowing past us causing me greater stress. Now it’s a bit embarrassing having to admit how I was gripped by fear, but I couldn’t have been prouder of the way my family came around me and saw me through a difficult experience. I would have hated to miss the view from the top of Diamond Head and because of my family’s support; I didn’t have to miss anything.
The Body of Christ is called to be a support group for one another when we walk through difficulty. In Mark 2:1-12 we see the Body of Christ shine. A man was crippled and couldn’t walk to Jesus, so his friends gathered around him and when they faced obstacles they found a creative way to get him to Jesus where he was completely healed. He didn’t want to miss being healed, but he couldn’t get himself there.
Are you going through something right now? Are you feeling a bit crippled? Allow the Body of Christ to gather around you and carry you through your difficulty. The Lord loves nothing more than working through His children to bless others. Maybe things are going well for you right now. Look around and ask the Lord who you can bless by walking through a difficult time with them. In this life, you will have trouble [John 16:33]. Fortunately, the Lord has already made provision for you when it happens.
When our family reached the top of Diamond Head, I was blessed by the view of the island from that vantage point, but I was even more blessed by what God had shown me about my family. That view was so beautiful, it took my breath away. I wouldn’t have missed it for anything, even a tunnel.