Simple Ways a Christian Can Navigate Through Suffering, Part II

here. Acts 28:8–9 — It happened that the father of Publius lay sick with fever and dysentery. And Paul visited him and prayed, and putting his hands on him healed him. And when this had taken place, the rest of the people on the island who had diseases came and were cured. The concept that hit me was that Paul suffered greatly from a thorn in his flesh. Scholars have speculated, but we really do not know what this thorn was. We also know that Paul asked God to remove that thorn from him three times (2 Corinthians 12:7–9). How frustrating must it have been for Paul to undergo physical pain, ask God for healing and then not receive it? Would that frustration have not been exacerbated when Paul was then used by God to heal others? I recognized that Paul was constantly ministering to others THROUGH his own pain, suffering and problems. He did not wait for his pain, suffering, problems to go away first. And neither should I. The second simple way a Christian can navigate through suffering is to focus on ministering to others—through the suffering, not after it is completed. If I was a healthy man who did not have to worry about insurance premiums and deductibles, then there is so much I could be doing for the kingdom. But my illness and my pain and my suffering do not IN ANY WAY preclude me from getting involved in kingdom work. The focus simply becomes: how can I minister in my current condition? I have realized that even though I have big dreams about what a healthy Zac would do, there is much for sick Zac to do. When you find yourself suffering try to divert the attention away from you as soon as possible. Stop the whining and the complaining and try to figure out what ministry Jesus has for you right now. How can you use your suffering to give God glory and increase His kingdom? Read: Philippians 2]]>