Monthly address

Reflections from the Glebe House
“I was just thinking...

...Isn’t it great that nothing is wasted with God; that all things work for our good”

One of the most difficult periods of my life was when I experienced a serious breakdown in my late 20s whilst working as a social worker in Liverpool.  It was a time when I was unable to work, lost all my confidence, sleep deserted me and, dosed up on a huge amount of medication, it felt like God was a million miles away and had abandoned me.  I cried out to him to take me out of it all but my prayers, it seemed, hit a brick wall and God totally disappeared!  Thankfully, as I gave in to the process, I eventually recovered and was able to return to work.  At the time it felt absolutely awful, but in many ways that breakdown was the making of me, setting me off on a journey of self-discovery which eventually led me into counselling work, and later the ordained ministry as I sought to help and walk alongside those experiencing a wide range of difficulties in their lives.

Paul, in Romans 8:28 says: “All things work together for good for those who love God.”  And in 2 Corinthians 1:3 he develops this theme: “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the same comfort we ourselves have received from God.”  This has certainly been true in my experience and many of the people I have felt most empathy for and been able to help and encourage the most are those who have gone through some of the same difficult life issues (breakdown, divorce, loss of a child etc.) that I myself have.

With God there is a plan and nothing is wasted, even if we often can’t see it that way ourselves when we are in the midst of the storm.  What we experience of God in our pain is often used for the benefit of others.  Two illustrations from nature may illustrate this.  It is misguided to cut open a chrysalis and help the butterfly to escape from its seemingly desperate struggles to emerge, because it is in these struggles that the strength in its wings develops and it is equipped to face the outside world and survive.  Similarly, apparently coral-building animals can only live and thrive when they face the open ocean in the highly oxygenated foam of the waves pounding them, rather than sheltering and hiding in the coral reefs they have built.

God never promises to deliver us from pain, but he does promise to be with us as we walk through it.  It we submit our lives to God, he will use our struggles and pain not only to strengthen and develop us, but also to deepen our relationships with those who may need our help and encouragement and can relate to us only because of what we ourselves have gone through.

Andy