“LORD, ALL I WANTED WAS TO SERVE YOU- WHAT WENT WRONG ?”
“God is writing a letter – His pen your circumstances and you are the canvas that He is writing a story upon. You are not helpless, or hopeless in Christ; you are a marvelous trophy of Grace.
Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 1:3-4 concerning “the God of all comfort, Who comforts us in our afflictions, so that we will be able to comfort others in any and all their afflictions.”
God will make you a minister of comfort to the crushed, if you allow Him to.
Experience can be a great extended and tender hand:
- to those who are frightened and in pain,
- to ones with anxiety and fears attacking,
- to those whose days seem distraught, and hopelessness seems to flood the soul,
- when it seems that no one understands or cares.
CRUSHED TO COMFORT;
“But God …” He does care and tenderly so…so much so that He sent Jesus Christ, His Son to die on a cross in your place. He bore your sin so that you may be free from its penalty and then come to know peace with God, knowing Him personally, and to be personally equipped and commissioned by God to comfort others who have experienced pain “affliction” which speaks of great pressures, crushing pressures. Like in times of old, when two boulders were placed upon a man’s chest in order to get him to confess to a crime and if he would not the weight of the pressure would crush him to death, such was the intense pressure he was under. The word, “affliction,” speaks of-great, crushing pressure. Perhaps through your pain, He is preparing you to benefit some other human being, to be a compassionate companion and understanding ally, and to bring help to them because of where you have or are in your life. You too have experienced crushing and in it the Comfort of God and God has authorized, commissioned you to comfort others with the same comfort in which He has comforted you!
Some other suffering soul, unexpectedly, does not know that even now, God, out of His kindness and loving and tender concern for them, is preparing a compassionate vessel fit for His use in their life, as an answer and comforter for them! It will come through your own pain and suffering; God’s comfort to you are your qualifications and credentials in compassionately identifying and comforting them with the comfort God has comforted you with.
TRAINING TO SERVE FOR GOD;
2 Corinthians 1:3-4 is true. God makes ministers of comfort out of those who themselves have experienced crushing. His comfort is there in order that they can be His servants of comfort to others who are also crushed under loads of guilt, fears, depression, grief, loyalty to Christ, or other perplexities of life.
Perhaps God is preparing you for this vital, yet often neglected and unwanted ministry for Him. The Ministry of “Comfort to the Crushed of heart.” Consider the immeasurable cost of being trained and equipped to be His minister of comfort! Even now as you go through your own trials, there is hope. Hope for you? Yes, we are told it is found in God. He is the God of “all hope” and is made known through a relationship with Jesus Christ. And He is Hope for someone else because of your struggles and trials!
“…the God of all comfort, Who comforts us in our afflictions, SO THAT WE WILL BE ABLE COMFORT OTHERS in any and all their afflictions.”
Your Pain, is not futile, indeed God can use it to make you a Minister of comfort to those who are crushed. This ministry is not for the faint hearted and comes through one’s own crushing, and the benefits are for others comfort,TO POINT TO THE GOD OF ALL COMFORT! ! There is purpose in pain. Eternal purpose.
It is the Furnace of Affliction that God makes His comforters.
“LORD, ALL I WANTED TO WAS TO SERVE YOU.- WHAT WENT WRONG?”
Have you ever said, “Lord, I want to serve You.” Perhaps you had ideas of what that would entail, and it seems, anything but has materialized, trials after trials, deep deep valleys, it seemed your world has been torn upside down and at times it seems things and trials just have piled on you and you wonder, “why?”All as you have wanted to do was to serve God and this seems anything but, Things keep getting in the way is how you interpret it. But have you ever thought God is preparing you to serve Him and is using these difficult times and trials to prepare you. In your affliction, crushing, God is preparing you to be a Comforter to the CRUSHED! HE IS INDEED ENTRUSTING YOU WITH A MINISTRY, a Ministry to the crushed of heart. No- it is not one you would have thought of or even chosen it “BUT GOD….” has chosen it for you, for His sake and the benefits of others!
Thirty years after his conversion Paul wrote, “That I may know Him , the power of His resurrection and the FELLOWSHIP OF HIS SUFFERING…” Paul so loved Him his desire was to partake with Him, not that he would die for our sins, for Jesus had done that but he wanted to walk with Him so great his affection for Him . Did the Lord Jesus know rejection? “He came to His own and His own received Him not.”- Rejection! Did the Lord Jesus know mocking?” They passed by hurling abuse.” while He was on the cross. Did the Lord Jesus experience misunderstanding? The cross seemed to be defeat . “But God,” raised Him from the dead and “caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.” { 1 Peter 1:3 } In Acts 9 it is said of Paul,”He is a chosen instrument of mine and I will show him how much he must suffer for my sake!” Paul was “chosen to suffer” for the sake of Christ. God kept His promise, dear Paul suffered but it was for the glory of the Lord Jesus and the benefit of others. From a prison he wrote “I,Paul the prisoner of Christ for the sake of YOU!”- {See Ephesians 3:1; 4:1 } …Phlippinas1:27-“it has been gifted to you not only to believe but also to SUFFER for My Names sake!”…The word “gifted,” is “grace. ” God has graced His people be the motivation for others to speak the Word of God without fear. Paul wanted to fellowship with the LORD. Only a suffering servant can fellowship with suffering servant!
We recoil at the thought of suffering. Rightly so, who would sign up for it. The Lord Jesus did not ask Paul if he would be willing to. He “chose” him for It. But it was not suffering for suffering sake. It was suffering for the sake of Christ. The furtherance of His Gospel {Phil 1:12- to evangelize the lost {v 13} and “most of the brothers are encouraged to speak the Word of God without fear because of my IMPRISONMENT.”{ v14} Paul’s presence with them motivated them “most of them,” note- not all; But “most of them to speak the Word of God more boldly without fear…” Like Paul, your presence can further His gospel. Your presence can be the motivation to stimulate others to stand and proclaim the Lord Jesus in the place of suffering!!! Paul also shows us in the place of suffering, he prayed- {See Philippians 1:3 -7 , 9-11} Are you confined through illness? Or in a difficult pace? PRAY for the Gospel. Seek to EVANGELIZE and to SEEK to ENCOURAGE OTHERS!
EQUIPPED TO MINISTER TO THE CRUSHED OF HEART!
What you have gone through and are going through are all part of God comforting you in your crushing to equip and commissioning you to be a minister of comfort to those who are crushed! Maybe instead of fighting your circumstances, you need to see perhaps God is in these to teach you, train you and use you in the lives of the crushed! God has and is preparing you to Minister to the Crushed.
WHO DOES GOD “COMFORT?”
A. Those who MOURN- Isaiah 61
B. Those who DESPAIR OF LIVING. 2 Cor 1
C. Those who are DEPRESSED.
If you never have mourned, despair of life or been depressed , you have no need of the comfort of God, But since we all knows to some degree difficulties of life, some more so than others, some at greater depths than others mourning, despair of life, depression we can be assured those who are, are candidates for the “God of all comfort to comfort us.” But God not only comforts us in these times of severe pressures that we may know Him BUT ALSO THAT WE MAY BE
COMMISSIONED- God commissions us to comfort those who are afflicted with the comfort with which we are comforted by ,” SO THAT…” we can comfort others who are afflicted with His comfort, now look at the next words slowly and carefully, “…IN ANY {ALL} AFFLICTIONS. “- {2 Cor 1:4} Sometimes we say,”I can not help them I have never gone through what they have gone through. Look again at what the verse says, “…in any affliction.” What you both have is you both have gone through great pressures, afflictions. They may be different types but both painful. So, you can comfort because you have pain in common and though it may be different types. God has commissioned you, equipped you, commissioned you to go comfort the afflicted. You are qualified. You have been dipped in the furnace of affliction. God has comforted you and now commissions you to go comfort others with the same comfort He has given to them in their affliction!
So often, we waste energy with “false concepts,” that our time has passed, we are too old, we will never get “there “{where ever that is in our mind when we are here!} We need to live in the now, seeking to serve the LORD, if it is a bed of affliction- PRAY… Difficult circumstances pray for opportunities to evangelize, encourage. Pray for others likewise. Fulfill your God given ministry…”COMFORT THE AFFLICTED!” You are COMMISSIONED. All around people are CRUSHED….
You may have said, “LORD, ALL I WANTED WAS TO SERVE YOU- WHAT WENT WRONG ?”-
You are Serving Him and being equipped to serve Him more effectively in the lives of heartbroken, spiritually bruised people, hurting people, afflicted people. God is answering your prayer. “LORD, I want to serve You.” -YOU ARE- maybe not how you thought you would, “BUT GOD…” is using you in the lives of broken, crushed people- You know Crushing- You Know His Comfort- you are Commissioned by God- to Comfort the crushed! You have been entrusted with the ministry of “comforting the crushed.”
How thankful I am to God that there are people like you- “Comforters to the Crushed,”– to God be the glory
Your friend in the journey