Are you comfortable or comforting?

I had an amazing conversation earlier today with a woman who, along with her family, has been attending Central Park for several months. Her name is Sweetie Berry and she is a bundle of energy. When she began to tell me the various things she does (owns 4 businesses, ghost writes for some big name authors, writes numerous blogs, and oh yeah, she takes care of her family) I admit I was awed and somewhat ashamed at how little I seem to do.

She and husband, Les, have a passion and God-inspired vision to minister to families, especially those that are less traditional in nature, that is, blended families, single parent families, etc. They are able to see and empathize with such families because of their own personal experiences with broken relationships, hurting children, and rebuilding lives. Paul speaks to this reality in II Corinthians 1:3-5 . . .
"What a wonderful God we have - he is the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the source of every mercy, and the one who so wonderfully comforts and strengthens us in our hardships and trials. And why does he do this? So that when others are troubled, needing our sympathy and encouragement, we can pass on to them this same help and comfort God has given us. You can be sure that the more we undergo sufferings for Christ, the more he will shower us with his comfort and encouragement" (Living Bible).

To be able to say, "I've been there," can often be a powerful means of opening a line of communication between the person who is hurting and the one who has gotten through a similar hurt with God's help. Almost four years ago I suffered a spinal cord injury during a surgery to repair a herniated disk in my neck. After the surgery we discovered that I had no movement in the left side of my body, and the doctor told my wife, Kay, that it might be a year of more before I walked again (if ever). My 23-hour outpatient procedure turned into several days of neuro-itensive care, three weeks of inpatient rehab, another six weeks of outpatient rehab, and a probable lifetime of nerve damage and weakness. God was so gracious, as I was able to take my first unsteady baby steps within a week of the surgery instead of a year. The people of our church were wonderful in their support of my family. Christians all around the country, and elsewhere, prayed faithfully for us. We truly were ministered to in countless ways.

My first opportunities to minister to others after the surgery was in the rehab center. I sat side by side with mostly older patients who were there due to broken hips, knee replacements, auto accidents, and more. As we all sweated and painfully engaged in our exercises and other forms of therapy I felt compelled to share words of encouragement with these new friends, most of whom truly were not as injured as I was. The Lord was my comfort during that very trying time, and He allowed me to share that comfort with others who were experiencing much of what I was experiencing. Since that time I have had numerous opportunities to say, "I've been there," and to share God's comfort with the hurting. I cannot say that I wish the injury had not happened. In fact, in many ways I am grateful for that experience because it helped me to grow in my faith, and it has opened my eyes to the pain others experience as I never would have seen before.

Back to Sweetie and Les -- God is giving them some truly awesome opportunities to minister and share words of comfort and strength with others. In just the past week God has opened doors to some truly awesome ways for Sweetie to use her talents in writing, speaking, and organizing. In fact, she is pretty overwhelmed with the scope of these new opportunities. These are "God-sized" things that could only be happening because of Him. For those who know them, ask them to share with you!

Why is it that Les and Sweetie are experiencing these awesome opportunities? Why is it that I'm not? This is a little painful to admit, but I have to say that I really have become too comfortable with my ministry and my life. Though I think that I may be doing a lot of "good" things in my life, I realize that there's not anything really "great" about it. In talking with Sweetie I picked up that she really isn't "comfortable" with some of the things God is opening up for her. They will really stretch her in various ways. However, she has committed to not putting limits on God as to how He can use her. She prefers to be comforting rather than comfortable!

Allow me to encourage you to pray:
-- Pray for Sweetie and Les Berry as they continue to seek God's direction for ministering to families.
-- Pray for me that I would be totally available to God to be used in any way He desires.
-- Pray for yourself. Ask God to help you to be available to Him as well.