By Mark Maher
Life can get heavy, but someday God’s going to empower you to help someone else. Let that be your fuel.
The endgame is to heal and help someone else. Adversity is a terrible thing to simply waste. It’s not easy, but as a Christian, we are called to show our scars, because no one can empathize with someone more than someone who’s gone through it. Obviously, you would never choose it, but if you’ve gone through it, you might as well allow God to use it to comfort and counsel others. It will take tremendous strength, but you can be the hands and feet of Christ.
“He comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others. When they are troubled, we will be able to give them the same comfort God has given us.” This scripture is found in 2 Corinthians 1:3-4. One translation says, “He empowers us to overcome so that we can empower others to overcome.”
When we struggle through something, we have an anointing, a grace within us to help others. If you’re walking close to Christ, He will provide you with the gift of empathy. Our hearts will bleed out to anyone who’s going or gone through similar trials, be it grief, addiction, loss, adversity, loneliness, hurt, etc.
This is our opportunity to show the love of Christ. “Those who truly love me are those who obey my commands. Whoever passionately loves me will be passionately loved by my Father. And I will passionately love you in return and will manifest my life within you.” (John 14:21)
God is looking for your love. It’s love that’s the game changer. 1 John 4:8 puts it this way: “Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.” This is the filter that we look at life through. Christ challenged Peter three times saying “Do you love me?” Peter said “yes you know I love you,” to which Christ replied back “then feed my sheep.” You have an opportunity here on planet Earth to be an extension of Christ. Embrace it and it might just help you to heal. “A generous person will prosper; whoever refreshes others will be refreshed.” (Proverbs 11:25)
So we are called to feed our faith by the strong love of Christ, in order to pour it back out to speak life and encourage others. To connect with people, to share His love, to encourage others through our words and actions, to step out of the shallows and into the deep, which will involve becoming relational in order to become fisherman of men and women.
The endgame is when we are less concerned about our lives, and more concerned about the lives of others. This is spiritual maturity. Where it no longer matters what happens to us, but more about how we can be used to help others find their faith. It all springs back to love God, love others. Our faith is not about us. It’s about Christ. He wants to use you.
Our lives are laid down when we chose to follow Christ. You are now a “servant for Christ,” which puts things in a totally different perspective than your old way of thinking. “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me”? (Luke 9:23)
What do your prayers look like? Are you praying to God to use you? Are you praying for God to let His will be done? Are you praying to God, “I trust you, God, no matter what.” Hebrews 11:6 says, “Now without faith, it is impossible to please God.” So this walk requires a lot of faith. You’ll have to go all in. Don’t you want to know what would happen if you went all in? There’s only one way to find out.
If we could lose the “1 foot in and 1 foot out” faith, God would show Himself strong in your life. “For the eyes of the LORD range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him.” (2 Corinthians 16:9)
