I was complaining to my friend and Anchor reader Ed Beigel the other day (hi, Ed!) when he reminded me of something he’d read about the stresses our blessings cause. It really helped. Then I realized he was quoting me to myself. (Here’s the anchor he was referring to, in case you missed it.)
I suppose when you write this much you forget things you said! You certainly don’t live it all to a T all the time. Either way…it really helped me. Haha.
But that’s not my point. My point is this: sometimes YOU feel disqualified from helping people because you need the help yourself. I want to remind you that nothing could be further from the truth.
Most of what I write or preach is a reflection that’s born from being IN IT with you. The word “understand” applies here. There’s an UNDER built right into it. The best preaching doesn’t come across as standing over what you’re saying, or the people you’re saying it to. I say things I need to be reminded of, and I listen to them as I say them. When we share the truth, we stand under things that are bigger than us…together.
Paul did this. He was authentic. He shared his anguish, his heartache, and his trials. He also shared this: God comforts us in our afflictions so we can comfort others with the same comfort we’ve received from him (2 Cor 1:4).
…If you didn’t follow that, read it twice. It’s worth chewing on. We receive comfort from God, and we pass it along. But we only received that comfort because we needed it first. Because we’re all broken and weak in our own ways.
I’ve had parents tell me they don’t feel like they have a right to tell their children to keep themselves pure until marriage because they failed at it. That’s like saying you have no place telling your kids to stay out of debt because you went bankrupt once. You’re UNIQUELY qualified if you know the pain.
Or people tell me they have no right talking about God or getting involved in a ministry because of their past. Have you read the New Testament? Ever hear of Paul, who wrote a quarter of it? That was after his brief career as a Christian hunter.
God doesn’t call the equipped. He equips the called. And I think he especially likes equipping and anointing messy but authentic people like you and me, because hearing from people who “overstand” rather than “understand” with you doesn’t go as far, or hit as deep.
It’s an honor to stand under all this with you. And if you ever see me being a jerk or hear me whining too loud, feel free to quote me to myself. ;)
