"If we are
afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; and if we are comforted, it is
for your comfort, which you experience when you patiently endure the same
sufferings that we suffer. Our hope for you is unshaken, for we know that as
you share in our sufferings, you will also share in our comfort." [2 Co 1:6-7
ESV]
The
Corinthian church was in a bit of an uproar, experiencing extreme levels of
discomfort so Paul offers words of consolation that have grown out of his own
experience. Though he is an example of suffering and comfort, don’t take for
granted that Paul’s example came easy for his personal comfort came at a great
price.
Think of
what it takes to remodel, that messy transformation process that changes a
house or office, upgrading the original design. Remodeling is not clean, easy,
or cheap. There will always be noise and dust--but in order to bring in the
new, the old must be removed. This means we must be ready to give up our
best-laid plans when Jesus uses you and me to build up His children and His
church.
When our
lives and routines are upset by the architect, the master builder is
stripping away the old, replacing with the new: old habits must go, replaced
with His truths. The beginning of every remodeling project begins with
brokenness, when all stability is suddenly torn apart. Perspective is what
is most needed here, so that we see through the eyes of the builder, the
designer. He holds the blueprints.
Paul knew
that his suffering was not without purpose: it was for the building of the
church, who in turn experienced suffering of its own. In the same way God gives
us experiences so we can comfort someone else in His name in a way that nobody
else can. You know, I can’t minister to someone who has lost a child, but
someone else can. You may not be able to sit with someone who has wrestled with
substance abuse, but I can.
What is
broken in your life right now?
What is
He removing in order to bring in what is better?
What is
being destroyed in order for Him to rebuild?
Are you
ready for Him to “move that bus?”
