shutterstock_228022969We all have trauma and wounds. We all have disappointments, regrets, sorrows. We all have highly complicated ways our brains have been rewired by our actions and experiences. Yet, we always think everyone else has it all figured out, and that everyone else has it better. That we are the only one who has been left out and left behind. That no one else could possibly understand the unfortunate reality of our life.

I was reading a passage this morning in Acts, Chapter 2. It recounted what happened to the disciples after Jesus had appeared to them following his resurrection. He had promised they would receive power when the Holy Spirit came upon them. They were to wait patiently for that to happen.

In chapter two, it says that suddenly there came a sound from heaven that filled the entire house where they were sitting. Tongues of fire sat upon each of them. They were filled with the Holy Spirit and began speaking other languages. When the sound occurred, it drew the attention of the multitude, and people were amazed at what they saw and heard. “Aren’t all these men who speak in different tongues all Galileans?” they asked each other. “How is it that each of us hears in our own language? ”

Each of us have specific trials and specific afflictions that make us who we are. But even though our struggles are specific, they are not unique. Many others share your struggle, no matter what your struggle happens to be.

In this truth, you can find comfort and a calling.

You can find comfort in the fact that there are people who have walked the road you are on, no matter how dark, rocky and twisty it might be. There are people out there who get you, who understand what you’re going through, who know how your mind works and who speak your language. You just have to find them. That only requires a step of faith on your part to seek out support groups, raise your hand in church or just be bold and authentic with the people already in your life about what you need.

You can also find a calling. You were gifted by God, both your strengths and your weakness, your trophies and your trials. All is to be used for His glory. Because of your story, you have the remarkable ability to speak someone else’s language. Drugs. Divorce. Abuse. Arrest. Failure. Death. Depression. Sickness. Insecurity. Selfishness. Oh my, this is an endless list. The struggles you are enduring, or have overcome, equip you with a context, a vocabulary, an actual language that allows you to communicate with great effectiveness to others who share your struggle. There is nothing more powerful than that.

The people that day were amazed to see men who were speaking their language, despite their appearance and background suggesting that shouldn’t be possible. Trust me, there are people all around you that share your struggle. They might not look like it. They may appear to have their act together. You’d be surprised where the opportunity for comfort, or calling, can surface.

No matter where you are on your journey, seek out those who speak your language. Even if right now you need comfort and can’t see yourself responding to a calling. Just the act of helping you will be enormously helpful to the person who is comforting you. In any event, please do not sit in isolation with any struggle, big or small. Do not feel shamed by any sin. Do not tell yourself the lie that no one gets you or that no one could really understand. They can. And they don’t need a translator. They speak your language. And just as importantly, you speak theirs.