Good morning everyone!

The devotional by Rick Warren today talked about a concept called redemptive suffering. Many of us have never heard of redemptive suffering but have probably experienced it without knowing. Redemptive suffering is when you go through a problem or a pain for the benefit of others. To me the greatest example of this is what Jesus went through by dying for our sins on the cross. He didn’t deserve that pain and suffering but He went through it for our benefit, so that we could be saved.

How many of us today are feeling like the suffering and pain we are going through is through no fault of our own. We look at the situation and say there is nothing I’ve done to deserve this. The reason may be God is using the suffering and pain you are going through to bring healing and comfort to someone else. Through the sharing of your pain and tough times with others a healing takes place for everyone.

This is part of why I started this blog and why I’ve been sharing scripture verses, devotionals and parts of my life with others for over the past 10 years. The hope has always been that through reading my posts, whether it’s a scripture verse or something I’ve dealt with in my life, it would bring comfort and hope to someone else. We can never know what everyone around us is going through but God knows. And at times He will put us in contact with people for the sole purpose of us sharing a part of ourselves to help them heal. This means opening us up and revealing an honest and open look at our pain and troubles to others.

An example of this happened for me around 2008 when Jen and I were born again and baptized as Christians while living in Arizona. We each were asked to give a testimony of how we came to Christ. When my turn came to speak at the pulpit I totally forgot about the notes I had written. What I ended up doing was opening up about how I had not followed Jesus fully, how I thought that just because I was a “good” person that I was okay with God. My son was there at the Church and from the pulpit I looked out to him and apologized for not being the true father and role model he needed and that God had called me to be. I had never wept so much in my life especially in front of so many people. But you know what it felt great to release that and what I found out afterwards is it helped many other men in that crowd. Several came up to me in the days afterwards and said they had never seen a man get up like that and apologize to his kids for his failings. They went home and apologized to their kids and started making changes in areas of their lives. Until they saw me being transparent about my pain they didn’t know how to address their own issues. That is what God wants to do with our pain and suffering. Not only heal us but use us to heal others.

As the devotional today said, “God wants to use our troubles and pain for good.” Our pain can be our greatest ministry for God if we allow Him to use us. It’s not easy to be transparent and it’s not easy to share our pain and suffering. But if we just trust in God’s calling and let Him use that pain and suffering for good, we will see Him do amazing things in our lives.

So today is the day to let your pain and suffering go! Don’t’ hold on to it like it’s a badge of honor or think it somehow identifies  who you are and who God wants you to be. Let God use you by sharing your experience with others, with those who may be struggling and we have no idea. Be the comforter for someone else and watch what God does to release you from the bondage of the pain and suffering you are dealing with.

Truth in Love!! ~ Chuck