‘All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is our merciful Father and the source of all comfort. He comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others. When they are troubled, we will be able to give them the same comfort God has given us. ‘ 2 Corinthians 1:3-4(NLT)
‘And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them. ‘ Romans 8:28(NLT)
‘“My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,” says the Lord . “And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine. For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.’ Isaiah 55:8-9(NLT)
It’s likely that you’ve experienced tremendous loss in your life. It could be marriage related or not. No matter what it is or when it happened, there is an experience that God wants to turn around and use to help someone else.
According to 2 Corinthians 1:3-4, we are to take the comfort we’ve received from God and use that same comfort to comfort someone else. Because we’ve been there. We’ve lived it. We’ve healed from it and through it. And not only have you lived through it and found divine healing from God, you’ve come out on the other side of it and actually have life again.
God wastes nothing. God works in it all and through it all for His glory. It doesn’t say in Romans 8:28 that God sits around and waits for things to happen. It says He works. And He doesn’t just work in some things, He works in all things.
When you minister to someone from a place where great pain once resided, a new level of healing occurs in your own life. When we help someone through something that we were helped through, we remind ourselves: “Hey, what you went through wasn’t in vain. What you barely lived through is actually now hope for someone else. What nearly killed you will actually bring hope to someone else one day.” It’s a spiritual pay-it-forward concept that not only helps others but also redeems our own pain.
Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine my husband and I would be where we are today. Someday you will be the one to another’s hand when they’ve learned that their life is changed forever by an affair, a trial, an obstacle. You will be the one to offer hope to that person because you are still here, still standing, and still living. That is key. People in pain want to know how they will survive it, how they will live again. And while your actions to help them are needed, simply standing by their side is enough. The gift of your presence will do them wonders. More than you know.
Food for thought: Make a list of experiences from your life. Ask the Father to show you how He wants to use your past to impact someone’s future.
from Rebuilding A Marriage Better Than New by Cindy Beall