Today I am reading in 2 Corinthians 1. Listen to this Scripture:
"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. For as we share abundantly in Christ's sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too. If we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; and if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which you experience when you patiently endure the same sufferings that we suffer. Our hope for you is unshaken, for we know that as you share in our sufferings, you will also share in our comfort."
The God of our comfort has brought comfort to us in our affliction so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction.
We must remember that God will use our trials and sufferings for our good and His glory! We know that no matter what trial we go through, our God is in the midst of it. He walks with us through the valley of the shadow of death. We do not have to fear because He is with us. And when we have come out of the trial, we are more equipped to be used of Him to bring comfort to someone else. Notice the verse says that we which have been comforted in all our afflictions can then be used to comfort those who are going through any affliction. I find this very interesting. We often think that we can only comfort someone who is going through the same kind of trial or suffering that we have been through. But, the Scripture says if we have been through an affliction, we can comfort others who are going through any affliction. So, if I have lost a loved one to cancer, I can comfort others and not only people who have or are losing a loved one to cancer. I am also a prospect to help someone who is going through marital problems. How does that works?? Well, the bottom line of all pain and suffering is that it hurts. So, you and I that know pain know what it means to be "lying on our backs" and have no place to look but up! That is the best thing we can bring to others who are suffering - the experience that we have of hitting rock bottom and finding that God is a God of mercy. Paul in 2 Cor. 1 goes on to say that he "was so utterly burdened beyond his strength that he actually despaired of life itself". But he says that this was to make him not rely on himself but on God! All trials and suffering are opportunities that God uses to turn us to Him and help us to trust Him more. As I look back on my life, I recognize that the trials and pain are what caused me to grow the most.
A.W Tozar put it best when he said "it is doubtful that God ever used anybody greatly without first hurting him deeply". That is an amazing statement and I have found it to be true. Think of the great men of the Bible who we long to emulate. Joseph, Daniel, Job, David, the Apostle Paul and on and on.
On Sunday evening, I shared a story about a Pastor who went to visit and pray with a family who had just gotten some difficult news. So, he stood next to the family and prayed "Dear Lord, give this family strength...may they know Your grace and comfort...would You wrap Your arms around this family" and as he prayed those words he put his arm around the father. When he finished praying, the man quickly looked up and said "oh, its just you". When the Pastor questioned what he meant by that, the man replied "Well, you prayed for God to wrap His arms around us and for a moment I thought I felt His arm, but it was just your arm". The Pastor quickly responded "it was God, He just used the arms that were closest at that time!"
This is what God wants us to be - His hands and His feet. May we go where He sends us and may He use us today as empty vessels.
As I finish this entry, I am leaving my office to go and sit and talk with a man that is hurting so badly that he too is "despairing of life itself". I pray that God will use me to help him to "look up"!
God bless!
