Someone Else's Prize

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.

- 2 Corinthians 1:3-4

Purpose.

It's important that you find it in the midst of suffering. Most of the past season of my life it has eluded me in the most frustrating way. Did God forget about me? Did the devil, or maybe just the plain wickedness of this world, slip one by Him and hit me right in the gut? Everything seemed to make sense until 6 months ago.

Often I feel like I am on the sidelines of life; a broke-down car near a buzzing freeway. I watch as friends drive by in their swift convertibles, smiling at me, waving and wishing me to "get well soon." Friends falling in love, getting married, having babies. Churches growing, business deals swinging, school degrees earned and then utilized in successful jobs. Young men plotting out their dreams with anticipated excitement, women chatting away about nothing at another coffee date.

Cars zooming by to another appointment. Rushing on with life, getting on with life. And I sit and watch, wondering how long until my car gets fixed and I can join the parade of the "normal." Strange, I never wanted to be normal until long-term illness struck. Perhaps I took normal health for granted.

Sometimes I wonder if my dreams are still alive in the heart of God, because in my own heart they often feel as dead as the car on the side of the freeway.

After awhile, though, my gaze is momentarily distracted from the thriving highway. A little ways behind me, I notice something. Another car on the side of the road. Smoking and creaking, with its discouraged owner next to it. She, too, is staring longingly at the freeway, wondering how long. A little hopeless, a little discouraged, and extremely tired. Though I have never seen her, I know her well.

I take the time to walk down the side of the freeway and to talk to her. How can I help her? I think to myself. My own life is a mess, too. What encouragement can I offer? After all, I seem to be stuck in a rut, too. The promise of a better life soon, a life of ease and comfort, would surely cause her to laugh. And she should. It's a dangerous road, and accidents happent to the best of people.

After a moment, though, I remember words that Someone else had told me right after I had spun off of the road in a heap of pain and confusion. Words of hope. Perhaps there is something better than the assurance of ease and comfort - there is a promise of redemption.

My heart lifted as I thought about the words. I didn't often like to think of them - sometimes they made me ache with longing, and it was sometimes easier to remain numb. But other times they nourished me with life, keeping my soul vibrant when everything else was dying all around me. I knew that I would have died long ago if I had stopped meditating on those words altogether.

So I looked at the downcast soul and said: "Don't worry - this season is not in vain." And as I spoke those words, power touched us. When I saw her face begin to wrinkle and then the tears fall, I knew she believed it. I believed it, too. Somehow I knew that no one else could have convinced her that that was the truth except for me.

Maybe the point of the journey isn't getting there faster in a newer and nicer car, after all. Maybe it's all about learning to listen to the Voice that guides us to the next destination. You know what's more? Sometimes I think it's easier to hear that Voice when we are on the side of the road, stuck in a ditch.

God has not forgotten me. It is not in His Father's heart to afflict His children with disease and pain (James 1:17), but we live in a broken world, and Christians are not exempt nor shielded from the pain and suffering that comes with it. "In the world you will have tribulation," Jesus says in one of His top ten biggest understatements ever made. "But be of good cheer," He adds - "I have overcome the world" (John 16:33). We are the sons and daughters of the Light, and we were born into a world of darkness to overcome it, not side-step it.

God has allowed me to walk through fire so I can eventually come out the other side of it without a burn. God gets glory when saints are tried, tested, and found worthy. It proves that He is real, that faith in Him is more precious than any earthly substance. Only a Spirit-filled believer can sing in prison!

But there is more purpose even than that. When we find comfort in God in the midst of suffering, we can then pass that precious gift on to someone else in their own tribulation. (2 Corinthians 1:3-4). This is where I am finding purpose today. My pain becomes someone else's prize.

It's only a matter of time. No matter how broken you are, if you are keeping your eyes on Jesus and listening to His words, no season will be in vain for you.