Do you ever wonder why bad things happen to us? It’s the age old question. We all want to know the reasons. Our suffering is nothing compared the Christians being beheaded, raped or sold by ISIS. But still, our suffering is very real to us.
As I have come through the other side of my cancer God has brought other women into my life that are experiencing breast cancer. Within the last couple of weeks I have learned of three people just diagnosed. I dug out my journals from that time and have been able to talk because of our shared experience. I experienced God’s peace during that time and now I can comfort them. (2 Corinthians 1:3-4)
Sir Winston Churchill said, “The pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; the optimist sees the opportunity in every situation.” Scripture, 2 Corinthians 1:3-9, tells us some benefits of our difficulties: We will be comforted. We will be a help to others. We will be changed. We will learn to trust God. It tells us God is the God of all comfort, not just some comfort, who will comfort us in every single trouble we face. Look for the blessings during hard times. There are some there to be found!
Peter, an apostle, tells us that our trials test our faith, to show that it is strong and pure. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold–and our faith is far more precious to God than gold. So if our faith remains strong after being tried by trials, it will bring you much praise and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world. (1Peter 1:8). An early 1900 British evangelist said:
Are you going to be the person that sees the difficulty in every situation or are you going to be the person that sees your situation as an a opportunity? Can you grow from your experiences so that you can share with others going through similar situations? We all need people around us that can walk along side us and encourage us along our journey. Nothing that happens to us is a waste but has a purpose. How are you going to respond to the needs of people around you?
On the journey,
Trish
Wow! I’ve never read that either. Thank you so much for sharing that with us. who knew? And it was right there the whole time. You really are a blessing. Thanks for sharing.