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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.
1 Cor 1:3-5 (ESV)

The news of my dear friend’s marital struggles didn’t surprise me.

She struggled for years with a lukewarm passion in their marriage. Now, after all these years, he’s rocking the boat and telling her he may begin to wander from the marriage.

Have you had friends and loved ones call on you in times of trouble? Have you noticed you seem to have more capacity to love those who are hurting than you did before?

This isn’t by accident. As the Lord comforts us in our sorrows and afflictions, something changes in us. We become more aware and compassionate of the sufferings around us. This is the power of a praying widow.

She wanted to be with her family in Christ.

As she took the pain from her husband’s words with her into her Sunday school adult class, she was surprised to see Marta, her friend there. Marta’s husband passed away just days earlier, leaving her with two teenaged girls. But rather than staying home in the new grief, Marta chose to come to the bible study.

“I didn’t want to be with out my brothers and sisters in Christ,” Marta explained. But it wasn’t long before my friend realized a more critical purpose for Marta’s presence at that study. As the rest of the group filtered out at the end, Marta remained and struck up conversation with my friend. She had noticed a certain tone in my friend’s voice and knew something was wrong.

“How could I spill my story on someone who’s husband just died?” She told me. But it only took a few words and Marta’s heart opened fully to her readiness to pray.

The widow took my friend’s hands and lifted her marriage in the most life-giving prayer.

“How is that possible?” my friend asked me. “There she was dealing with the most raw event in her life, and yet she had time to pray for me and my husband.”

But you probably know why. God has given us a power in our hardship. We who have experienced anguish are able to share in the suffering of Christ and then have compassion when others suffer.

Maybe you’re not blessed with eloquent prayer in the moment. I don’t always spill out the perfect words at Christ during prayers with a friend. Still, the Lord gifted me with a different kind of comfort–helping my friend harness words her husband was telling her as clues to how to pray and help her man. The Lord urged me to send her to a specific Christian resource for troubled marriages— one that would encourage her to stand for her marriage effectively using Christ’s walk on Earth as an example.

She’s well on her way with deep satisfying prayer from a fresh widow and Christ-rooted wisdom from a seasoned widow.

Ladies, these daily interactions with those around give us deep meaning in life. Hurting people come to widows because they know we understand. Let the Lord use you for these purposes. This is His plan during this difficult walk in life. Paul makes it clear in 1 Tim 5:5. Widows can pray as they walk with the Lord.

Let the Lord’s light shine as He gives you the power of a praying widow.

Lord, can you please melt my sister’s heart towards how You can use her in her suffering? So many around her will suffer and need Your love, and she is well positioned to be here when they need her. Amen.