Purpose for our pain

Purpose for our pain

I went out to breakfast with a new friend today from church. He’s a good guy and has been in Bahrain for the last 12 years. When he is back in the states, he considers his home to be Walnut Creek, CA. So we’re neighbors on both sides of the globe. He was the music minister (volunteer) at our church and he’s very talented.

He was telling me about his difficult year he had, which opened the door for my story. My story is so long and detailed. The details are amazing but how much to share and when is the tricky part. End to end it would probably take about four full hours to tell the entire story. You can really get bogged down in the details but that is where the story is so dramatic. Details on the story is like icing on the cake. Now, I know Hollywood and I know what makes a good Hollywood drama. But when I tell my story often times people find it hard to believe. Hard to believe that I’m so peaceful, joyful and content despite the personal hell. I don’t mind telling people my story even when its dramatic. I’m always sure to honestly share my role and my faults in the whole issue so its not a lot of finger pointing. I think what makes my testimony…or any other person’s testimony so powerful is that it shows that Christians can be filled with hope and joy even though their world is crumbling all around them. By the time I got done with my short story…(about 20 minutes and I was talking fast) he was very moved. I even think he teared up a few times. But If I can use my struggles and my heartache to help someone else…Im going to do that all the time. Im not sure what the final result was, whether or not I encouraged him, I think I did. But nonetheless I have a new friend…that has an amazing heart and desire for God and that is so important for me. Like Joel Osteen says every week..be careful who your friends are because they can tear you apart from you relationship with God faster than anything. Misery loves company and someone going down a path that is wrong…often times will convince you to go down that path also so they are less lonely. That’s why its important as I’m alone and vulnerable to surround myself with strong like minded people. Thus far, I’ve been able to stay strong because I have teams of people praying for me. But I need to surround myself with more Godly people. And God is bringing those people into my life…both for me encourage and for them to encourage me.

As I was talking to my friend…we brought up the “M” word. Apparently you aren’t supposed to mention “Missionary” here just in case. He took my point of view for the word-Missionary. He hated when people used that term. We are called to Missionaries no matter what part of the world we live in. Sometimes we are called to unique places and circumstances, like I am and he is…but we are still obeying the command of the great commission. Go out into all the world and preach the gospel. You readers can be missionaries too…just local missionaries. Im letting my lifestyle do most of the preaching…but God is drawing people near to me that need me to share more than my lifestyle. He is opening the doors where I can dialogue about my faith and their faith. Im not debating anyone into the Kingdom, rather…Im just showing love and a very positive attitude. The pain that I experienced goes a long way in establishing my credibility. What I believe works…Im living proof. So that naturally makes them curious as to how they can harness this great power. God uses the difficult times in our life to show his Glory more than ever.

I’m still living what I consider to be the dream life over here. God is really blessing me. But I still covet your prayers. I still feel like there is a great big target on my back. There must be something good about to happen because the spiritual onslaughts and attacks keep happening. I told you last week that God revealed to me that the next two weeks would be a time of extreme trial for me. I made it through week one ok…and it was intense…one more week to go.