When Handel wrote the “Hallelujah Chorus,” his health and his fortunes had reached the lowest possible ebb. The right side had become paralyzed, and all his money was gone. He was heavily in debt and threatened with imprisonment. He was tempted to give up the fight. The odds seemed entirely too great. And it was then that he composed his greatest work – Messiah. We can say that Handel’s pain became his platform for ministry. Are you at your lowest moment? Do the odds seem entirely too great for you?

money gone?

ridiculed and criticized?

laid-off?

mounting debt?

failed relationships?

illness?

addiction?

uncertain future?

divorced?

dead-end job?

lonely?

overwhelming pressure on your job?

Are you tempted to give up the fight? Don’t quit! Don’t sulk! Because God is always doing something, cooperate with Him, even in pain. C. S. Lewis said that pain is God’s megaphone; he uses it to get our attention. This could be your moment – the moment where God uses pain to help you compose your greatest work – a symphony of your greatest music for others. Could it be that God is ready to compose Messiah in you so that others might be blessed through you! It is only when we:

Respond to our pain appropriately (count it all joy),

Understand the reasons for our pain clearly (the testing of your faith will develop patience and patience will lead to maturity and maturity will make us ready for anything that comes our way)

Rely on our Source, in the midst of our pain, absolutely (Ask God and He will give you wisdom to understand the reasons “why” or give you the strength when “whys” are not discernible).

that pain can truly become our platform for God’s greater purpose. Let your pain become your platform to listen to God, draw closer to God and to tell others about God.

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Every so often I wonder about my funeral. (Now, I know this is not a pleasant thought, but it has a significant purpose for me). When I think about that day, I wonder what people will say about me, you know, what kind of person I was and what kind of impact I made on the world. This process is quite humbling and motivating. It’s humbling because I know God is the one who controls life and not me. I know my life will end one day. It’s motivating because it causes me to give my life to the things that really matter – God, eternal values, family and friends. 

Therefore, each day I live, I am writing, or at least have opportunity to write the eulogy that I would like read at my own funeral.  Here are some questions that have been very helpful to me as I have thought through this process. They may be helpful to you, too, as you write and live your own eulogy

1. How do I want to be remembered?

2. What personal characteristics do I want people to remember me for or by?

3. What do I want to have accomplished? 

4. What will have been the most important to me in my life? 

5. What will my lasting legacy be?

Have you ever asked yourself these kinds of questions? If so, how did the process make you feel? 

If you don’t mind, take a moment to think through one of the questions above and leave your answer here. Grace and peace.

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Recently, I spoke to some Christian athletes. I asked them how did they normally respond to hardships (torn ACL/ MCL/PCLs, loneliness, being ridiculed for their faith). They responded: fear, anger, “why me?”, self pity, aggression, despair, turning to abusive behavior, apathy, and turning to God. I told them they were carriers – carriers of pain, so they could ultimately be carriers of comfort. Just as I encouraged these athletes, Paul encouraged a group of believers in a town called Corinth.

He reminded them that afflictions were inevitable for the follower of Jesus. Many were being persecuted, imprisoned, and oppressed by unbelievers – all because their relationship with Jesus. But, Paul wanted the Corinthians to know that, in the midst of their trouble, God was their source of divine help. He would come to their side and help them to have godly responses. Then Paul gave two purposes why God allowed suffering: so, they could experience direct and personal comfort from God, and then from that experience, give God’s comfort to others (2 Corinthians 1:3-4). God allowed affliction and brought divine comfort so that the Corinthians might have the capacity to enter into another person’s pain, affliction and sorrow and bring comfort to them.

As we experience sufferings, affliction and pain of all kinds – physical, spiritual, emotional – let us remember that God will bring direct and personal divine comfort to us through his word, by the Holy Spirit and through fellow believers. Thus we are CARRIERS of pain, so we can ultimately be CARRIERS of COMFORT – God’s comfort. Sometimes we carry God’s comfort with consoling words and other times words are inadequate and get in the way. Thus, we must carry God’s comfort by the ministry of presence.

We are not comforted by God to be comfortable. Nor are we comforted by God to become consumers and connoisseurs of God’s comfort; we are comforted by God to be comforters. God comforts us so we can be CHANNELS and CARRIERS of COMFORT.  

How has this been true of you lately? How can your suffering and God’s comforting you through it, help you empathize with others? 

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Have you ever felt like some days nobody thinks about you? I mean, no calls, no emails, no texts, no “I was just in the neighborhood” visits, nothing that says someone is thinking about. I have felt this way many days. It seems when I feel that way, I am drawn to David’s lyrics in Psalm 139:17-18: 

“How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them! Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand. When I wake, I am still with you.” 

When you feel like nobody else is thinking about you, I want you to remember that our heavenly Father is thinking of you. His thoughts about you are highly valued, prized, splendid, and precious. Thoughts like:

I love you

No weapon formed against you will prosper

My plans are not to harm you, but to give you a hope and a future

I am your shepherd; you shall not want

I am your light and salvation

I will never leave you nor forsake you

Greater is Me that is in you than he that is in the world

Cast all your cares upon me; I care about what happens to you.

I will renew your strength

I love you so much that I gave my only Son to die for your sins so that we could be together

What God-thoughts are you drawn to when you feel like nobody is thinking about you?  

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