I think most of us figure that when we’re struggling with something, it’s all about us, what we’re experiencing and what we’re supposed to learn from it, but that’s not necessarily true.

It might be that we are going through a struggle so that down the road we can be of help to someone else, that maybe God is shaping us so that when we run across that person about whom we say, “I can’t help them because I have no frame of reference” God has, in fact, given us a frame of reference.

God takes us through a myriad of experiences that are not meant for us at all. They are meant to make us useful in His kingdom.

Even as I write that, I wonder…

I wonder about all the hard experiences in my own life for which I never came up with an answer as to why, not even a hint, not even years past the event.

But God knew.

He knew that later down the road I would run into people with whom I don’t share their lifestyle, their beliefs, their proclivities, and yet I’ve been able to minister to them, which surprised even me.

As a hospital chaplain I encountered numerous situations for which I had no personal experience to draw from and yet I was able to walk in their shoes and find the right words to say.

Is that how God works?

I had never really thought much about it until I read Oswald Chamber’s devotion for November 5th.

“If you are going to be used by God, He will take you through a multitude of experiences that are not meant for you at all, they are meant to make you useful in His hands.”

Could it be that God is doing that for you right now?

Could it be that difficult situation is really all about someone you haven’t even met yet?

Interesting thought, huh?

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