For just as the sufferings of Christ flow over into our lives, so also through Christ our comfort overflows. – II Corinthians 1:5

              I prayed a strange prayer when I was sixteen years old. That was the year that I first began feeling the Lord’s call to ministry.  What worried me most about that call, however, was not where the Lord might call me to serve or what He might ask me to do. My greatest concern in answering His call was that I did not know how to identify with hurting people.  Up to that point, my life had been a charmed one. I was very fortunate to have been raised by Christian parents in a loving home. I had been active in church and a leader among my peers.  Aside from the loss of grandparents and pets, my life had been free from trauma and emotional strain. I had always had every need fulfilled and many of my “wants” were satisfied, too. Yet, I knew that accepting the Lord’s call to ministry would require me to be there for people who would be hurting like I had never experienced before.  And so, my strange prayer was to prepare me for hardship so I could identify with those who knew it all too well.               

Little did I know that hardship was already right around the corner. It was later that same year that my father died suddenly and my mother began the struggle of caring for two teenage boys alone. The Lord knew that in order to learn how to minister to those in need, I would first need to receive that kind of ministry. He provided for my family in wonderful ways and through wonderful people. It was not long after this time that the Lord gave me opportunity to take the experiences I’d had and use them to help someone else. I learned that when life is hard, it is for a reason. We may not see it, but our Heavenly Father can use our hardships to enable us to minister to others in need. Jesus faced physical exhaustion, emotional stress, exclusion, grief, betrayal, and the brutality of the cross… and because He did, He can identify with us in our deepest hurts.  That comfort has come to us, so that it can flow through us to others in need. Opportunities abound to share the comfort, confidence, wisdom, or care that we ourselves have received from God. Let’s get about sharing His blessings.