Wounded animals tend to withdraw. In a vulnerable state they retreat to a secure place of isolation. Wounded saints can do the same. It is an understandable response for the injured soul. Retreat for a time may provide a needed respite. But when a trial endures, continued isolation can endanger one’s spiritual well-being. For in that place a person can become absorbed by their anguish and lose perspective. Suffering is magnified in solitude.
Job fell into a vortex of emotions, at least in part, because he was isolated in his suffering. By the time his three friends arrived, he had been abandoned by those nearest to him and sat alone—scraping his loathsome sores and moaning in his misery (Job 2:11-13). His mind went to dark places and he ultimately concluded that God had turned against him (Job 16-17). Isolation readily creates a heart that is self-absorbed.
One of the best guards against wallowing in the suffering of an enduring trial, whatever its source, is to be absorbed in serving others. We can help sufferers who are walking through a persisting trial—be the trial physical, spiritual, emotional, or relational—by nudging them into regular works of service. There are four reasons to
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