Growing in sympathy through trials begins by looking at the character of God. Isaiah 63:9 shows us how the suffering of this world affects the heart of God: "In all their affliction he was afflicted, and the angel of his presence saved them; in his love and in his pity he redeemed them; he lifted them up and carried them all the days of old." Throughout the Gospels we read how Jesus was moved with "compassion" for people. Compassion (splagchnizomai) translates a word that means stomach. The picture here is of a person that is so moved with sympathy for another that he or she feels it in the stomach. The same word is used to describe the feeling of the father towards the prodigal when he saw his son a great way off (Luke 15:20).

Not only does God feel pity towards the hurting, He was so moved by the miserable condition of people under the sway of sin that He entered the world to deal with it. In doing so Jesus felt the fullness of the suffering of this world. Because of this, we can be confident that we have his sympathy (Heb. 4:15). It is a bit of a cliché to say, "I feel your pain." In the case of Jesus Christ, however, He fully understands. The suffering He experienced at the cross taught him a greater measure of empathy for the hurting.

In following the example of Jesus, through pain, God teaches us to grow in our empathy for others. There is a great picture of this in Lamentations. In the first lament Jeremiah cries out, “Is it nothing to you, all you who pass by? Look and see if there is any sorrow like my sorrow" (Lam. 1:12). On the surface it sounds as if Jeremiah is in distress because of his own broken condition. This, however, is not the case. It is not the prophet's personal suffering that has induced the tears; rather, he is weeping on behalf of the city of Jerusalem. The pain in Jeremiah's life comes as a result of watching others go through difficult trials. A similar lament for the same city is seen in the life of Jesus (Luke 13:34). In both cases, these men are weeping with those that weep.

Second Corinthians 1:3-7 is one of the clearest passages in the Bible on subject of emphatic suffering:

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. For as we share abundantly in Christ’s sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too. If we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; and if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which you experience when you patiently endure the same sufferings that we suffer. Our hope for you is unshaken, for we know that as you share in our sufferings, you will also share in our comfort.

While much could be said about these verses, consider the following. First, the pain that God allowed into the life of the Apostle was not just for his own personal growth, but for Paul to help the Corinthians through their trials. Through affliction, Paul learned how to be a more loving minister. The implication here is huge! God will often allow a trial into your life for the purpose of another person. Has it ever occurred to you that God may bring a period of suffering into your life so that you will be better able to help others? Think back to the time in your life when you were bullied at school or when you went through a period of loneliness. Is it possible that God allowed that into your life to help you better sympathize with your own child who is going through something similar right now? Perhaps you have gone though a season of physical pain. Are you open to the idea that God has allowed that pain into your life to make you more empathetic towards others who suffer physically? How tragic it would be for someone to go through a trial and miss out on what God wants to do through it.

A final implication comes from the phrase, "same suffering." While there is no prerequisite to helping people through a trial, generally speaking, those who have gone through the same crisis are usually in a better position to help. The growth in sympathy is not just generic. We can have a special ministry to people who we see experiencing the very trials that we ourselves have experienced.

JESUS! WHAT A FRIEND FOR SINNERS

J. Wilbur Chapman

Jesus! what a Friend for sinners!
Jesus! Lover of my soul;
Friends may fail me, foes assail me,
He, my Savior, makes me whole.

Jesus! what a Strength in weakness!
Let me hide myself in Him.
Tempted, tried, and sometimes failing,
He, my Strength, my victory wins.

Jesus! what a Help in sorrow!
While the billows over me roll,
Even when my heart is breaking,
He, my Comfort, helps my soul.

Jesus! what a Guide and Keeper!
While the tempest still is high,
Storms about me, night overtakes me,
He, my Pilot, hears my cry.

Jesus! I do now receive Him,
[or Jesus! I do now adore Him,]
More than all in Him I find.
He hath granted me forgiveness,
I am His, and He is mine.

[Refrain]

Hallelujah! what a Savior!
Hallelujah! what a Friend!
Saving, helping, keeping, loving,
He is with me to the end.