Quote:
Originally Posted by BaptistInCrisis 
How do we deal with this in our own life?
How do we minister to others who are going through it?
How do we keep from going through it?
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To echo what has already been said about our sinfulness: Paul started out by saying he was the least of the apostles and by the time he reached the end of his life, he was the chief of sinners. I believe the answer is Philippians 3:7-12
7 But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. 8 Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith— 10 that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11 that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.
12 Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own.
It goes back to this and having the mind of Christ. The prayer that changed my life was, "Father, grant me the mind of Christ. Enable me to see the world through Your eyes, may I love the way You love, hate sin the way You hate sin, live like Jesus lived."
How do we deal with this in our own lives? We don't without the grace and power of Christ.
How do we minister to others who are going through it? We direct them to Christ, we love them the way He loved them.
How do we keep from going through it? We can't. Part of being a Christian is sharing in His sufferings, and I do believe that all we go through has already been experienced by Christ Himself, and so as we walk through these valleys of the shadow of death we find "He is with us!"
Christ above me, Christ beside me, Christ within me ever guiding, Christ behind me, Christ before, Christ my love, my life, my All! (taken from a 4th century prayer)