Colors of An Empath

Do you know an empath? You might see them everyday but you don't really know who they are. Not really. That's because they usually keep to themselves. Until someone they love is hurting, that is. That's when they come out. That's when they first begin to appear. Almost always after a storm.

I was out for a walk today when I happened upon the heart-shaped rock in the picture. I have walked the same path numerous times but had never noticed it before. As I wondered why I had never noticed it before it suddenly clicked. The ground around the rock was wet. It had just rained the night before.

Normally the dirt is the same color as the rock so I never noticed it. But after a storm the ground gets wet and the rock becomes visible. That's how empaths work. They look like normal people until someone they care about is hurting. Then they become amazingly visible.

Do you have certain empathetic qualities. I have a few. And now that I am thinking about it, nearly all of my relationships outside of family are the result of empathetic interactions. Do you have relationships like that? Relationships built upon a shared pain or by walking through someone's struggle with them.

My closest friendships are those formed through some storm we weathered together. If you think about it, isn't our relationship with God like that? We struggle, God draws us to Himself, and we emerge on the other side of our trials closer to God.

I think Jesus was an empath. When Lazarus had died and He went to see Mary and Martha Jesus was moved to tears.

³² Then, when Mary came where Jesus was, and saw Him, she fell down at His feet, saying to Him, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.”

³³ Therefore, when Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her weeping, He groaned in the spirit and was troubled. ³⁴ And He said, “Where have you laid him?”

They said to Him, “Lord, come and see.”

³⁵ Jesus wept. ³⁶ Then the Jews said, “See how He loved him!” - John 11:32-35

Jesus had compassion and felt Mary's pain when He saw her weeping. He was so moved that He gave of Himself and was moved to raise Lazarus from the dead.

The empaths we have in our lives are a valuable gift from God. They are the ones who come running in when others go running out. Hold them close. Their love desire is to love, like Christ first loved us when He sacrificed Himself for our sin.

Ten Traits of An Empath - Psychology Today