All praise to the God and Father of our Master, Jesus the Messiah! Father of all mercy! God of all healing counsel! He comes alongside us when we go through hard times, and before you know it, he brings us alongside someone else who is going through hard times so that we can be there for that person just as God was there for us. We have plenty of hard times that come from following the Messiah, but no more so than the good times of his healing comfort—we get a full measure of that, too. When we suffer for Jesus, it works out for your healing and salvation. If we are treated well, given a helping hand and encouraging word, that also works to your benefit, spurring you on, face forward, unflinching. Your hard times are also our hard times. When we see that you're just as willing to endure the hard times as to enjoy the good times, we know you're going to make it, no doubt about it. We don't want you in the dark, friends, about how hard it was when all this came down on us in Asia province. It was so bad we didn't think we were going to make it. We felt like we'd been sent to death row, that it was all over for us. As it turned out, it was the best thing that could have happened. Instead of trusting in our own strength or wits to get out of it, we were forced to trust God totally—not a bad idea since he's the God who raises the dead! And he did it, rescued us from certain doom. And he'll do it again, rescuing us as many times as we need rescuing. You and your prayers are part of the rescue operation—I don't want you in the dark about that either. I can see your faces even now, lifted in praise for God's deliverance of us, a rescue in which your prayers played such a crucial part. Now that the worst is over, we're pleased we can report that we've come out of this with conscience and faith intact, and can face the world—and even more importantly, face you with our heads held high. But it wasn't by any fancy footwork on our part. It was God who kept us focused on him, uncompromised. Don't try to read between the lines or look for hidden meanings in this letter. We're writing plain, unembellished truth, hoping that you'll now see the whole picture as well as you've seen some of the details. We want you to be as proud of us as we are of you when we stand together before our Master Jesus. (2 Corinthians 1:3-14 MSG)
As I was reading this portion it all stood out to me as "I've been there!" Honestly there is no new thing. Someone has been through what you went through!!! And while it might not have been God plan for you to go through that real hard event in your life, He can bring the people into your life who have "been there" and help get you through! And then after that God brings people along side you who are going through the same things you just went through so that what you learned you can share! I know that we have seem some hard times. It felt at time (like what was said in portion above) that we were not going to make it, there were times where I saw the worst and didn't think it was even possible to make it out alive (literally) but God picked us up and took our hands and brought us safely to the other side. He sent an amazing man an woman of God who were there and went through it to help us and encourage us through the storm! It wasn't easy but we made it and all glory to God because it wasn't us! It was nothing we did but everything He choose to do!
The things we went through totally made us trust in God. We were stripped of everything and had to rely on God to get us through! After going through all we did we know that God will and can bring us through everything! And we know that God will bring people in our lives who are going through the same things we did. God wants to use our story to help and love people into the kingdom of God! I see how God is going to turn it all around and make it into something good! As my pastor says, "not all things that happen in our lives is good, but God can turn it around and make it good for His glory!!!! I am ready to be used in a new way. I know that we have a special gift and story to share! God I am ready to be used by you!!!!
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