Raise your hand if you’ve ever had a favorite piece of whatever break, such as a vase, a mug that you just love using or a lovely piece passed down from previous generations. I bet we all can raise our hand! And, how did that make you feel? Does downright awful come to mind? You were heartbroken. You felt devastated. So devastated, in fact, that you took the time to glue the pieces back together, because, even though it wasn’t put back in its original state, it sure was darn close. And, you were still able to admire and enjoy it.
This is a great analogy (thank you Our Daily Bread) to help illustrate how parts of our lives tend to be…broken, up in shambles, disastrous, messy. But, did our lives stay this way? Hopefully not! Definitely not, if we believe that there is a ton of power in the energy that surrounds us, and, we kind of have control over how we want this energy to work in our lives a.k.a. how Papa will work in our lives.
It’s when we can accept that we are not meant to control everything is when we’ll feel the true comfort that comes along with a strong relationship with The Big Guy.
It’s when we have This Comfort can we then ‘share how the Lord has worked in and through our life’ and begin ‘helping others during their times of suffering’. ‘His comfort in our troubles equips us to encourage others as we share what He did for us during our time of need’.
In addition, whenever we feel like losing hope, like the situation is never going to improve, so, why try so hard, we ought to stop and think about what Jesus endured (our situation can’t be as bad) and get ‘inspired to persevere in the midst of our own pain, trusting that God uses our experiences to strengthen us and others toward patient endurance.
What great affirmation!
Love,
Lisa
2 Corinthians 1:3 – 11 Our hope for you is firm because we know that just as you share in our suffering, so also you share in our comfort.
“Lord, thank You for using us to provide comfort, encouragement, and hope to others who are suffering. We praise You for all You’ve done, are doing, and will continue to do to comfort us through our own afflictions.”