Can you feel my pain?

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Have you ever wondered why God brings certain things into your life? Wondered why we have to experience the pain? Have you ever watched the pain of another person and realized that you have no idea how to comfort them because you have no idea what they must be going through?

It has been interesting to see what God is doing in my life this past couple of weeks. Three times there have been situations that have arisen that I have had no idea how to deal with. Three separate people, three entirely different sets of circumstances. Yet, each time, I have walked away with the knowledge that I had absolutely no idea how each person was feeling.

I Peter 3:15 says to:

But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and [be] ready always to [give] an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear:

Another verse that comes to mind is 2 Timothy 4:2.

Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine.

Both verses just impress upon my heart the urgency to have an answer ready for any time that it is needed. While I may not be a preacher – I still need to be instant in season. I need to be prepared for whatever may come my way.

It’s just like God when He’s teaching you a lesson – on Wednesday night our pastor’s sermon was on being prepared. I just sat there thinking, “Ok, Lord, I’m listening. What can I do to be more prepared?”

But what about the pain that we go through? As hard as some of life’s circumstances can be, we go through them for a reason. Moments ago, I was reading a post on Hannah’s Prayer that one lady wrote about some of the things she’s learned through her situation. It really made me think. What if God had us go through our infertility so that we can encourage someone else later – because we’ve been through it ourselves? What if God had us go through a job loss and unemployment so that we can understand somebody else when they go through it? What if God had us remain a lower-income family so that we can truly understand what it is like – so that we can encourage someone else? What if?

I believe that God brings us through difficult circumstances so we become prepared for the next time we see the situation – whether in our lives or in that of another. We would be able to sympathize – to truly empathize – because we’ve been there.

I can’t claim to understand God’s reasoning, but it sure does make sense, at least to me.