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.
2 Corinthians 1:3
When we are going through a very difficult trial, we can wonder why it is happening to us and what possible purpose could there be in going through such heartache. As born-again Christians we have a desire to serve God, know Him more, reach other people with the Gospel and tell of the joy and peace we’ve found in Him. But then something unexpected happens, some tragedy or heartache or trial. We lose our joy; life becomes burdensome and we feel like giving up. But although we don’t see it at the time, God will work a purpose out of our pain if we will keep our focus on Him.
As part of my work with breast cancer clients, I helped to run a 6-week program for ladies who had finished their treatment and were struggling with how to get their lives back on track again after such life changing surgery. While I had lots of information to go through, I often found that the real work was done by the ladies themselves as they talked with each other and shared their experiences. Just knowing that there was someone else who had gone through what they had gone through encouraged them. All the fears and anxieties that they didn’t want to share with their family and loved ones, they were able to share freely with someone else who had been through the same thing. The group often became its own support network and lifelong friendships were made.
We live in a sin cursed world. God is not the author of pain and suffering. He didn’t sit down and plan every murder, every incidence of child abuse or rape. He didn’t decide that so and so would have cancer, or so and so would be killed in a car crash, or that so and so would have a stroke and be left unable to walk or talk. While God knew all that would ever happen to every single person who ever has or will live, He is not the author of pain, suffering or evil of any kind. The fall of man through disobedience and sin set in motion all the death, decay and disasters throughout history.
But God in His infinite wisdom and grace can use all the catastrophes in life to show His loving care and devotion to His ultimate creation – man. As the devil comes to steal, kill and destroy, God uses His people to bring restoration and new life to those who have been used and abused, rejected and abandoned. Who better to share your pain and sorrow with than someone who has been through the same thing and came out the other side with renewed hope and confidence in God? They’ve found a way through the “slough of despond”, they have faced the same fears and fought the same giants and can pass on their experience so that others can find comfort and hope to carry on.
What the devil means for evil, God will turn to good. Genesis 50v20.
God can turn your pain into purpose. He can bring new life, hope and joy into the most devastating circumstances and He uses His people to do that.
When we go through times of suffering and tragedy, we can become self-focused. “Why did this have to happen to me?” “What did I do to deserve this?” etc. But our Heavenly Father wants us to keep our focus on Him and turn our prayers of despair into prayers of purpose – ” Lord use all that’s happened to me to bring blessing and freedom to those who are going through the same thing”. When we do, we will not only know the abundant comfort of God, but we will be able to abundantly comfort others.
