Short Thought continued.....

Eligibility in Suffering

 

“[God] always comes alongside us to comfort us in every suffering

so that we can come alongside those who are in any painful trial.

We can bring them this same comfort that God has poured out upon us.”

(2 Corinthians 1:4 TPT)

 

How different life was before ill health changed it.

Gone are my former days of activity, of being out in the world as a lover of Christ.

Musing over the loss of active purpose with a close friend, I spoke of fears, grief and frustration.

From a place of impotence and purposelessness, I wonder:

how is God glorified through my illness and recovery?

 

It is clear that I am in an interim time:

the old has gone and the new is beginning to come.

It would be easy to wait until my health is fully restored.

However, the call is to embrace what is here, what is new.

 

I have learnt how it feels:

to recover from traumatic events;

 to be so weary that simple tasks exhaust you;

to live alone and feel vulnerable because there’s no-one around... in case;

when social interactions that you long for exhausts you for days;

to have to pace yourself and stick to routines;

to seek medical support and find that nothing speeds up recovery, except for time;

to wait, and to wait more.

 

I have also learnt the joy of:

God calling me into a place of resting in Him;

solitude, stillness, silence;

grace;

kindness and encouragement from family, friends and neighbours;

someone else who understands because they’ve walked this road before;

friends that stick close and love me through it all.

 

This is what I can offer now.

 Suffering has made me eligible to offer solace and comfort to others:

the recovering, the weary, the vulnerable, the isolated, the weak.

Not to change their circumstances but to share with them the comfort and compassion

that God has shown me and to accompany them as they journey.

 

Thought: When have you struggled and received compassion and comfort from others?  

What has it made you eligible for?

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