Doing God's Work Without Even Knowing It

We just began 2nd Corinthians in our pastor's Bible study at our church. Yesterday evening we wen through the first eleven verses, of Chapter one.

When he got to verse 3 of Chapter 1, Dr. Marr began talking about how God often uses our experiences, both good and bad, to help others. God often says “You know what? I need to help this person out – and the best way to do that right now is to send you, because you know what they're feeling. You've been there.”

“3) Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, 4) who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.”

Dr. Marr talked about how only people who have been divorced truly understand the devastation that divorce can cause. He spoke of how the experience of losing a loved one can only be understood by someone who has had the same experience.

Then he looked at me and said “I pick on Glen sometimes because of his experience. He lost a son and he wrote a book about it. The raw emotion he was able to express will definitely help someone who has had the same experience. For me it's a good book but I've never lost a child so it doesn't have the same meaning to me as it does to someone who has had that experience.”

Once again he drew an emotional response from me. He often catches me off guard when he tells people about my son and my book. But I don't mind. Because as he was discussing verse 3, I was already thinking of the same thing – how I have been able to comfort and encourage other members of “the club” because of the comfort and encouragement I received from God years ago.

When the class was over Dr. Marr walked over and said “Hey – I'm sorry I put you on the spot but it just fit.”

“It's OK,” I said. “I have actually lived that scripture – more times than I want to think about.”

And it's true. I have given dozens of copies of my book to fellow club members (all members get a free, signed copy) and I have a friend who lost her Marine son in 2010 and she buys copies to give to Gold Star families.

One of the women in the class asked how she can get a copy of the book. Dr. Marr told her that it should be in the book store but if it's not they have copies in the office. I supply the church with copies so they can give them to anyone whom they believe will benefit from it.

The Apostle Paul said a lot of important, meaningful things in his writings. But this one verse, 2 Corinthians 1: 3, may be his most meaningful for me. Because without realizing it I have been fulfilling scripture. I know God has used me to comfort those with whom I share a common and tragic experience. As I have said before - I believe I was supposed to write this book, even though it started out as simply a few pages of memories.

The very best compliment I have ever received about my book has been said to me more than once. Several people have said “Thank you for putting my feelings into print. I thought I was the only one who felt this way.”

Even though I never set out to put anyone else's feelings into print (I was working strictly for me - or so I thought), what a wonderful and heartwarming comment that is. And while I still wish I had never become a club member, I'm honored to be able to “comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.”