When someone’s facing a crisis, we can end up saying, ‘It’s not my responsibility. I don’t want to get involved’. Sometimes it’s because we’re not willing to put ourselves out for others, other times it’s because we’re already dealing with a lot, or it’s just inconvenient timing. Or maybe we’re so wrapped up in our own problems and crises that we don’t even notice that someone around us needs support. But ‘being there’ for others is a biblical principle. The Bible says: ‘“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: “Love your neighbour as yourself” (Matthew 22:37-39 NIVUK). Being there for other people is the practical application of loving God and our neighbour. There are three usual types of crisis. Situational crises like illnesses, the death of someone we love or problems in our relationships. Then there are developmental crises that happen over the course of life. These include leaving home, going to university or adjusting to married life. Finally, there are self-awareness crises where we discover things about ourselves. We may find out the illness we have is incurable or we feel rejected by others. All through the Bible, we see people struggling with crises. Job faced many situational crises, Abraham and Sarah had developmental crises and Jonah had a self-awareness crisis. And we can all probably think of times we’ve been through these too. In fact, we might be going through something right now. But we shouldn’t let that stop us from noticing when those around us are facing them too. Even when we’re struggling, we can still be there for others. It’s what we’re called to do.
