“This is an important truth: Sometimes God wants to see if we will serve others amid our own pain; this becomes a source of healing for others and a catalyst that leads to our own freedom.”- Os Hillman
“I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”- Galatians 2:20 (NKJV)
Os Hillman concludes Chapter 6 of The Joseph Calling as he discusses when it’s time for you to come out of your desert season. Os states the time’s right when God provides an opportunity for you to be the solution to a problem. In addition, God uses you to solve the problem.
That solution, in turn, establishes your authority- from which you minister to others. So, once God deals with your core issues, He turns your weaknesses into His strength. Thus, we all need an encounter with God along the way. Most importantly, it’s only that encounter that sustains and heals us.
Writing in My Utmost for His Highest, Oswald Chambers explains the relationship between call, need, and opportunity. He states:
“If you have received a ministry from the Lord Jesus, you will know that the need is never the call; the need is the opportunity. The call is loyalty to the ministry you received when you were in real touch with Him.”
As a result, Os notes, when God gives you new opportunities for response, it’s likely God will create something out of your crisis you’d never have imagined would be possible.
Today’s question: How is serving others amid your pain the catalyst that leads to your freedom? Please share.
Tomorrow’s blog: “God prunes live branches, not dead ones”
