Topic: How to Turn Suffering Into Service [RICK WARREN Devotional 14 JULY 2023]
Click HERE for Previous MESSAGES
How to Turn Suffering Into Service
BY RICK WARREN — JULY 14, 2023
FROM HOW TO GET THROUGH WHAT YOU’RE GOING THROUGH
“Even when we are weighed down with troubles, it is for your comfort and salvation! For when we ourselves are comforted, we will certainly comfort you. Then you can patiently endure the same things we suffer.”
2 Corinthians 1:6 (NLT)
Everyone is going to face problems and difficulties in life. God will give you all the grace you need to endure those hard times. But he also wants you to be willing to use your experiences to help other people. God doesn’t want you to waste your hurt!
The Bible says, “Even when we are weighed down with troubles, it is for your comfort and salvation! For when we ourselves are comforted, we will certainly comfort you. Then you can patiently endure the same things we suffer” (2 Corinthians 1:6 NLT).
Did you know that God sometimes allows you to go through problems for the benefit of other people? He may let you go through a period of darkness, depression, or discouragement so that you can comfort others with the same comfort he gives you.
In fact, your greatest life messages always come out of your weaknesses, not your strengths.
Who can better help somebody who’s in recovery for alcoholism than somebody who’s also walked through recovery? Who can better help somebody who is going through the pain of a divorce than someone who has healed from divorce? And who can better help the parent of a seriously ill child than another parent who’s experienced the same heartache?
The things in your life you wish you could change are often the very things God wants to use to help you grow in spiritual maturity and as a ministry. While God works in you, he also wants to work through you to help others.
The Bible says that love never gives up. It is always hopeful and endures through every circumstance. Love considers other people. Love turns other people’s problems and needs into your problems and needs. Love looks at other people like God sees them and gives them what they need, not what they deserve.
That’s what Jesus did. He suffered all kinds of problems and shame and went to the cross—not for his benefit but for our salvation. Follow his example, and use your hurt to help others.
Talk It Over
- How has someone used their painful experience to help you walk through a similar experience?
- What is a deep hurt or difficulty in your life that could be your ministry to other people?
- Why is it important to see others as God sees them? What does it change about your relationships?
Will you follow Jesus today?
God proved his goodness through his Son, Jesus Christ. The Bible says, “For God loved the world in this way: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16 CSB).
Are you ready to trust God to fulfill his promise of eternal life? If so, start by praying this simple prayer: “Dear God, I believe Jesus Christ is your Son. I confess I have sinned, and I ask for your forgiveness. I believe that Jesus died to take away my sins and that you raised him to life. I want to trust Jesus as my Savior and follow him as Lord from this day forward. Guide my life and help me to do your will. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.”
ALSO READ: CLICK HERE TO FOLLOW US ON TWITTER ⊗ OPEN HEAVEN ⊗ JOEL OSTEEN DEVOTIONAL⊗ ABOVE ONLY ⊗ OUR DAILY BREAD ⊗ SEEDS OF DESTINY ⊗ JOYCE MEYER DEVOTIONAL ⊗ RHAPSODY OF REALITIES ⊗ JOHN HAGEE ⊗ MFM DAILY DEVOTIONAL ⊗UTMOST FOR HIS HIGHESTDCLM DAILY MANNA ⊗ JOHN PIPER DEVOTIONAL ⊗