| The Ministry of Comfort |
Chapter 6 |
Page 4 |
Another of the blessings which come from trial is the finding of one’s soul. It was in his great distress that the prodigal “came to himself.” Many people walk in a dream, as it were, till in some trouble they are aroused to see the reality of things. They are happy in their earthly gladness, satisfied with their human ambitions, unaware meanwhile of the flitting nature of this world and of the eternal stability of the spiritual world. They are living in a dream, as it were. Then sorrow breaks in upon them. One who is very dear is lifted out of the circle and glorified. At once revealing comes. They see how mistakenly they have been living, and how perilously.
One tells of a company of tourists on the Alps who were overtaken by night, and after groping in the deep darkness for a time were compelled to settle down and wait until morning. A thunderstorm arose during the darkness and a vivid lightening flash showed them that they had stopped on the very edge of a precipice. Another step forward and they would have fallen to their death. The lightning flashes of sorrow ofttimes reveal to Christian people the peril in which they are living, and lead them to turn to safer paths. Many a redeemed one in glory will look back to the time of a great grief as the time of seeing God which led to penitence and faith.
Another result of sorrow, when it is accepted, is in preparing us to be better messengers of God to others. Jesus Himself was made ready to be a sympathizing and helpful Friend by His human sufferings. He understands our grief because in His own life He was acquainted with grief. He is able to be a comforter to us because He Himself was comforted. St. Paul tells us that the reason God comforts us in our trouble is that we may become comforters of others in their afflictions. We have a new power with which to bless others when we have come from an experience of grief. An emptied heart is a wonderful interpreter of other’s bereavements. The power to be a true helper of those who are in trouble, a binder up of broken hearts is the most divine of all enduements. Surely, then, it is worth while to pay any price of pain or suffering, in order to receive the divine anointing for such sacred ministry.
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