Punishment or Privilege? - February 21, 2003As I've been thinking about how God uses suffering to purify, not punish us, my mind has wandered over the last two and half years and stopped at the memory of an elderly gentleman suffering from a degenerative condition. Walking was not impossible, but it was difficult, painful and dangerous. He was confined to a wheelchair when I met him during a therapy session at the Rehabilitation Institute of Kansas City. I was also still confined to a wheelchair, and was still pretty beat up with my wounds and bandages.
At this point, I was having a hard time accepting my handicap. I didn't expect to need a wheelchair or to use a walker or cane until I was old. I was 32. I wasn't ready to be old.
Anyway, this gentleman approached me after our therapy session and in a kind, concerned voice politely ask me what had placed me in this condition. After explaining my accident and including all the miraculous signs and events of God's provision, he looked at me with sympathetic, but empathetic, genuinely tender eyes and said, " Honey, when you are old you kind of expect to run-down and find yourself like this, but it is hard to see someone of your age experiencing what we old folks do." In his eyes, I could see him looking back over his life and being thankful for a strong, able body in his younger years.
Tears welled up in my eyes as I basked in his pity, but I will never forget his warmth, kindness, and genuine concern in his voice and on his face. For a few minutes, I was able to make him grateful in his suffering, rejoicing over the wonderful years he had been given in his life. Today, his memory brings me joy, because I know that even in my darkest hour, God was using me to reach out and comfort another.
You know, that's what suffering is all about! Paul was on to something when he said in 2 Cor. 1:3-4, "Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God." I praise God for the opportunity He has given me to comfort so many through my suffering.
What suffering has He allowed in your life? Although it may be hard to praise Him for it now, He may be using you to reach out and comfort another even in the most painful time of your life. That's not punishment, that's a privilege.
email: [email protected]m
Copyright © 2003 by Phil & Pam Morgan Music Ministry • All Rights Reserved
PO Box 1991, Lee's Summit, MO 64063 • 816-524-2023 / 888-523-4492.
For more information on the Morgans, visit www.PhilandPamMorgan.com
******