Trials Make Us Useful

 Thoughts on 2 Corinthians 1:3-11 (part 4)
4. Trials make us useful.
To comfort others, we need to experience God's comfort in our own trials. With no trials, we would know no comfort. So, trials make us useful to others. Our own sorrows can make us more understanding and compassionate of other people in their sorrows. If we have no idea what it's like to go through something difficult, we can tend to be insensitive and even judgmental. Also, what we learn in our trials can help someone else in their own trials. I have the Pineapple Story Series. It is the story of Otto Koning who was a missionary to Papua New Guinea. He shares all the incredible lessons he learned on the mission field. I had listened to these a lot before Lydia (our little girl with Down Syndrome) was born. Although his situation in the jungle was totally different to my situation in hospital, the lessons God taught him were very helpful to me. His trials have made him useful to many people.

 So, thank God for your trials, because God is using them to make you more useful to others! Don't fight them, instead ask God to make full use of them and turn them into a big blessing. As Otto Koning said, "Don't waste good problems!"