"Someone, Somewhere Else"

Our wounds are meant to be the open portals through which the comfort of Christ flows unto others.

"Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort; who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God... Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh... so then death worketh in us, but life in you... all things are for your sakes" (II Corinthians 1:3-4; 4:10; 12; 15).

Careful consideration of these passages reveals that our Savior's way of personal suffering leading to the blessing of others is now our way. The Apostle Paul actually considered this as a gift to us - "unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on Him, but also to suffer for His sake" (Philippians 1:29). We are honored to walk the same path as the Lord Jesus (although it doesn't feel like an honor). We "suffer for His sake," and "all things are for your sakes." This spiritual understanding must be often considered if the ministry for God's glory and blessing to others made possible by our pains is to flourish.

The great challenge in this involves the fact that difficulty strongly tempts us to focus on ourselves. We all have different ways of responding, but our fleshly reaction to trial tends to raise in our minds the question, "Why is this happening to me?" Conversely, the Holy Spirit moves within us to foster different inquiries. "How can the Lord Jesus be honored in this?" "Who can be blessed as my difficulty opens a window in me through which He can be known by someone else?" This clearly taught Biblical truth is too rarely considered among born again believers, and our spiritual enemies fight hard to cloud and enshroud the power of our sufferings leading to balm for others.

Wherever we are challenged and hurting in this moment, someone, somewhere else is facing the same difficulty. Paul declared that our troubles are all "common to man" (I Corinthians 10:13). We may or may not know who they are, but we can pray to our Heavenly Father who does perfectly know the person and their circumstance. Our suffering can be a signal whereby we ask God to glorify the Lord Jesus in a fellow "companion in tribulation," ministering His comfort, strength, and redemption in accordance with the Divine will (Revelation 1:9). Heaven only knows how our Father responds to such determination to walk in the love of Christ, as enabled by the Spirit of Christ. Indeed, in Heaven some saint may greet us on a street of gold so pure and fine as to be transparent. "Brother, do you remember that day back on earth when as the tears fell from your face, your prayers ascended to the Throne for "someone, somewhere else" to know God's keeping and comfort? My brother, I was that someone to whom the Lord Jesus was ministered and while all the glory is His, I still want to thank you with all my heart." Doubtless we will together fall to our faces on that transparently golden path where the glory of Christ's love emanates and radiates forevermore to reveal His nail-scarred heart that is now our nail-scarred heart.

"The love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit which is given unto us."

(Romans 5:5)

"And the Lord turned the captivity of Job when he prayed for his friends."

(Job 42:10)

"The Ultimate and the Personal" Part 2

"And I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunderings, saying, Alleluia: for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth" (Revelation 19:6).

Can God do anything and everything? Is He that "omnipotent?" Concerning prayer, we must carefully consider this question in the light of Scripture.

The answer is yes and no. He can do all things that align with His character, nature, and will, or in terms of His glory and eternal purpose in Christ. However, He cannot do that which conflicts with who He is, and with the determinations based His perfect being and way. "God... cannot lie" (Titus 1:2). Thus, there are prayers believers pray that our Heavenly Father cannot answer. "Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts" (James 4:3). This makes prayer a great challenge because we must know God and His truth if we are to pray with expectation of His answers.

"This is the confidence that we have in Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He heareth us" (I John 5:14).

We all have experience of praying long and diligently for people and for ourselves with no answer seemingly forthcoming. Our perception of circumstances and situations tells us that certain things need to happen. Provisions, protections, healings, and significant changes seem necessary, and we ask our Lord with the utmost sincerity. He seemingly doesn't answer, however, and in such times, we must hold out the possibility that God's ultimate purposes transcend our understanding of specific needs. We may be asking "amiss" and guided by fleshly motivations even if our requests are noble and sincere.

God's love for us "passeth knowledge" (Ephesians 3:19). However, we cannot play on His emotions or twist His arm, as it were, to cause actions on His part that conflict with the eternal purposes governed by His glory, nature, purpose, and will. This should fill our hearts with great assurance because our knowledge of our own interests and the interests of others is so presently limited. "We see through a glass darkly" (I Corinthians 13:12). We need a God who cannot be swayed by sentiment, but who rather always acts in accordance with a love guided by perfect wisdom and character. Our personal needs and the needs of others for whom we pray are always best fulfilled when our Lord's glory, will, and eternal purpose in Christ are furthered. We must share His primary focus on the ultimate as we pray, rejoicing that the personal will thereby be best served...

"Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you."

(Matthew 6:33)

"The Ultimate and the Personal"

God is loving enough, wise enough, and powerful enough to work in both ultimate and personal terms for the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ and our benefit.

God's glory, will, and eternal purpose in Christ must be viewed as the overarching purpose of our Heavenly Father. His working is God-centered because He knows who and what He is in relationship to creation, and to the angelic and human races. Our Lord is the originator and sustainer of all things, and all things must be in proper relationship to Him in order to rightly exist. God ever works to bring the universe into this righteous, tranquil, and joyous fulfillment, and His focus on the ultimate should fill our hearts with great assurance. Indeed, we would never want to become the center of Divine attention because such a misdirected focus on God's part would place all creation in grave peril.

Our Lord is nevertheless the most personal of beings. "The very hairs on your head are all numbered" declared the Lord Jesus. Therefore, God's necessary emphasis on His ultimate purpose does not hinder His precisely detailed working in accordance with our individual existence (Matthew 10:30). How the Lord does this nobody knows but Himself. But He does it. He works for His glory, will, and eternal purpose in Christ, while integrating our personality, history, calling, experience, condition, and circumstance into the inevitable fulfillment of "gathering together in one all things in Christ" (Ephesians 1:10).

Often in prayer for others and for myself, I begin with the ultimate, asking God to further His glory, will, and eternal purpose in Christ. Then I ask that He would effect this purpose in the most personal terms, specifically applied. Emphasis on the former establishes the proper altar for the latter, and ensures that our focus is our Heavenly Father's focus. The order and sequence are essential in prayer, and in our understanding of the Divine purpose in all things. The ultimate and the personal - God works for the fulfillment of both, and eternal wonder will fill our hearts as we see Him loving, wise, and powerful enough to track the hairs of our head even as He sustains and redeems a vast creation.

"God thundereth marvelously with His voice; great things doeth He, which we cannot comprehend. For He saith to the snow, Be thou on the earth; likewise to the small rain, and to the great rain of His strength."

(Job 37:5-6)