-Joe Fornear
Why is this happening to me? A common human response to difficult times. 
It’s evidently not a problem to ask this question of God – even Jesus asked on the cross, “My God, My God, why have you forsaken Me?” It’s also not a badge of honor to refrain from asking why. The Lord wants to show us His purposes in our trials:
No longer do I call you slaves, for the slave does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I have heard from My Father I have made known to you. – John 15:5
Certainly, one of His goals during trials is to reveal Himself on a level not possible if our lives were trouble-free! This revelation of Him bubbles up and out to those in similarly hard times. Thus, we not only find an oasis in the desert, we become one! Paul certainly believed God was leveraging his troubles in this manner:
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction so that we will be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. For just as the sufferings of Christ are ours in abundance, so also our comfort is abundant through Christ. But if we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; or if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which is effective in the patient enduring of the same sufferings which we also suffer. – 2 Corinthians 1:3-6
The good news is the comfort He provides always matches the level of sufferings endured. And evidently He promises enough to share with others as well! So we receive His amazing comfort not only to alleviate our own pain and grief, but to spread it to others.
I could not “waste my sorrows” and bury the comfort I found during my Stage IV cancer battle. I am compelled to share both the challenges of the rough battle and the Lord’s provision through it all, including His ability to heal. Eventually the Lord lead my wife Terri and I to launch Stronghold Ministry, a care and support ministry to cancer patients and others in crisis. Yet the Lord wants each of us to leverage our troubles in our own unique way. The possibilities and opportunities are endless. If you run out of ideas – write to us and ask about our Stronghold Ministry “Ambassador” project. We can work together.
I get that after the battle subsides, some want to run far away from cancer. But every caretaker or patient is sitting on a depth of insight that only first hand experience can fully comprehend. Why me? Why you? What if He allows our battles, whether it be cancer or another trial, so we will be an inspiration and hope to many in the same ordeal? One helping many – the math alone explains why!
Here’s to leveraging our trials and being an oasis of His comfort to many!
