“ He comforts us in all our troubles
so that we can comfort others.
When they are troubled,
we will be able to give them the same comfort
God has given us. ”
2 Corinthians 1:4
My friend from the Boston Project shared this verse with me not too long ago... we were chatting about how our past experiences help us to better connect with others, especially certain others. Throughout this summer, I was indeed blessed to witness how verse came alive in my life. God, You are so good. I can not praise You enough for the people and past experience that You've placed in my life.
During our conversation, my friend refreshed my mind about some forgotten experience I had in middle school. I was able to use these experience to connect with youth who others might have a difficult time connecting. I am extremely grateful for these experiences. Sometimes, even nowadays, I would look back at these experience and I might not always be very proud of them. Some of these experience made me wonder how life would be different if I've taken a different path. But God is good, faithful and consistent. "He never stops blessing me." Even in my down times, in times of going against Him, He would still stand besides me and wait for me to return to Him. When I do return, He helps me turn my bad experience into blessed one so I can better relate to others.
I love to read the Q&A from Stephen Tong (Pastor Tong), who is my all time favorite pastor even though I've only seen him in real life once. I went to one of his conferences back in 2009 (?) Ever since then, I often look up his videos and sermons online so I can expand my bible knowledge and live a more pleasing life to God. I was reading the answer of a question like this "If God is gracious and merciful, why would He allow Satan to stay in this world and causing others to live in a miserable life?" Pastor Tong replies that if we are having a truly good relationship with God, Satan's existence should not be a problem. Satan's existence actually becomes a way to glorify God's name as we rely on Him in all situations. Satan's existence also becomes a symbol of God's love as we testify that nothing in this world can separate us from God's love. How passionate and strong is His unfailing love! God has already won the victory, all we need to do is trust in Him. A lot of times Christians make the mistake of always blaming Satan for the mistakes that they make. God reminds us in the bible that "all things will work together for those who loves Him" (Romans 8:28). Yes, sometimes they are Satan's work, sometimes we just choose to follow the path that is walking against God or we just make mistakes... Pastor Tong reminds us that that the problem lies in our unwillingness to confess our sin to God. Indeed so true.
How does what I read last night relate back to the verse and the story of my friend sharing that verse with me? Well, even in my trouble times, God protected and comforted me. He turned the bad experience into good ones so I can use it to bless others :) Even when I was tempted or making silly mistakes, God is still good. As a result, I learned to praise God even in these moments, especially in these moments. As for the specific moment I experienced today that reminds me of this verse, all I can say is "whenever I encourage others with words, with love, with whatever He places in my heart, God always double the amount I give." The moment I found out that one of my high school classmates lost her father, immediately I felt the need to say something. I don't know how my words would comfort her in any way. I simply did what would be pleasing to God, that is, to take the time and reflect on my own life and then genuinely write out what's in my heart.
From one heart to the other, whether or not she receive the love, I've done my part. God will take care of the rest. Honestly I've never talk to her or seen her after high school. But I always know that she's a strong person, someone who seeks for undying passion, driven by motivation, and extremely dedicated to get what she wants. I truly respect that. While I was typing my comment, I realizes that God was revealing to me the power of connecting to others and showing care, even if the other person might not always be your best buddies. He also helped me gain a deeper understanding of my favorite quote:
During our conversation, my friend refreshed my mind about some forgotten experience I had in middle school. I was able to use these experience to connect with youth who others might have a difficult time connecting. I am extremely grateful for these experiences. Sometimes, even nowadays, I would look back at these experience and I might not always be very proud of them. Some of these experience made me wonder how life would be different if I've taken a different path. But God is good, faithful and consistent. "He never stops blessing me." Even in my down times, in times of going against Him, He would still stand besides me and wait for me to return to Him. When I do return, He helps me turn my bad experience into blessed one so I can better relate to others.
I love to read the Q&A from Stephen Tong (Pastor Tong), who is my all time favorite pastor even though I've only seen him in real life once. I went to one of his conferences back in 2009 (?) Ever since then, I often look up his videos and sermons online so I can expand my bible knowledge and live a more pleasing life to God. I was reading the answer of a question like this "If God is gracious and merciful, why would He allow Satan to stay in this world and causing others to live in a miserable life?" Pastor Tong replies that if we are having a truly good relationship with God, Satan's existence should not be a problem. Satan's existence actually becomes a way to glorify God's name as we rely on Him in all situations. Satan's existence also becomes a symbol of God's love as we testify that nothing in this world can separate us from God's love. How passionate and strong is His unfailing love! God has already won the victory, all we need to do is trust in Him. A lot of times Christians make the mistake of always blaming Satan for the mistakes that they make. God reminds us in the bible that "all things will work together for those who loves Him" (Romans 8:28). Yes, sometimes they are Satan's work, sometimes we just choose to follow the path that is walking against God or we just make mistakes... Pastor Tong reminds us that that the problem lies in our unwillingness to confess our sin to God. Indeed so true.
How does what I read last night relate back to the verse and the story of my friend sharing that verse with me? Well, even in my trouble times, God protected and comforted me. He turned the bad experience into good ones so I can use it to bless others :) Even when I was tempted or making silly mistakes, God is still good. As a result, I learned to praise God even in these moments, especially in these moments. As for the specific moment I experienced today that reminds me of this verse, all I can say is "whenever I encourage others with words, with love, with whatever He places in my heart, God always double the amount I give." The moment I found out that one of my high school classmates lost her father, immediately I felt the need to say something. I don't know how my words would comfort her in any way. I simply did what would be pleasing to God, that is, to take the time and reflect on my own life and then genuinely write out what's in my heart.
From one heart to the other, whether or not she receive the love, I've done my part. God will take care of the rest. Honestly I've never talk to her or seen her after high school. But I always know that she's a strong person, someone who seeks for undying passion, driven by motivation, and extremely dedicated to get what she wants. I truly respect that. While I was typing my comment, I realizes that God was revealing to me the power of connecting to others and showing care, even if the other person might not always be your best buddies. He also helped me gain a deeper understanding of my favorite quote:
After leaving the comment, I thought of something I read last night from Mako's reflection on Matthew. Mako talked about how God encourages him to love those whom he might overlook in daily life. That echoed the theme from my Boston Project summer: SEE(K). "Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness..." (Matthew 6:33). Indeed, the challenge for me and for everyone is: HOW (do we love people the same way as Jesus)? It is not a complicated question and the answer is already revealed in the bible. The difficult part is to go beyond the text, stop fearing the idealism of loving others with the same intensity as Jesus... instead, simply go and do the best our own ability to love others. I don't have this figure out yet. But no worries! I have a life time to learn... ;)
Amen. So deep and so true. I am going to go check out Pastor Tong now! And keep trying to be more like Jesus. :) God is good.
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