From: August 26, 2014
We are often called to minister to others out of the very place that we ourselves have once suffered. The fatherless find comfort in the Father and grow up to care for the widow and orphan. The cancer survivor visits the chemo patient. The addict whom Christ has set free declares the good news to those still in bondage. This ministry would not be possible were it offered from our brokenness. It is possible because it comes from the overflow of comfort that we ourselves have received from God. Have you received this excess of comfort that flows first to you and then through you to others?
From: August 26, 2012
God gives us an excess of comfort in the places where we have suffered. Once we are comforted, we are able to comfort others who have suffered in the same way. Have you been healed of a deadly disease? Delivered from an addiction? Found peace after losing a loved one? Your greatest hurt may now be your greatest gift to others. Let God’s comfort overflow to those who hurt where you once did.
From: August 26, 2011
When God comforts us in our suffering and trouble, He gives an overflow, so that we have an excess of comfort for those who are hurting in the exact places we once were. Healed people help hurting people best.
From: August 26, 2009
Reading Job is challenging. Beginning like a narrative, it shifts into a kind of Shakespearian poetry/dialogue (More accurately, Shakespeare may be more “Jobian” than vice versa. After all, Job is the oldest book in the Bible and one of the most ancient in human history)
Reading these lengthy conversations, I grow impatient with the narrative’s slow advance.
I feel the same way when I read Hamlet or Macbeth. I suppose today’s action-oriented culture has caused us to lose track of the beauty of the give and take of human conversation.
But taking the time to read each day, I’ve noticed a cumulative effect. I can’t wait for God to speak. Both Job and his “friends” are speaking from their limited perspectives. As their voices drone on and on, the need to hear from God increases.
Perhaps the Psalmist had been reading Job when the Spirit inspired him to write: “Be still and know that I am God.” (Psa 46:10)
I tire of human wisdom.