{"id":25831,"date":"2023-03-22T22:24:22","date_gmt":"2023-03-23T05:24:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/gospel-express\/2023-woman-copy\/"},"modified":"2023-03-22T22:39:30","modified_gmt":"2023-03-23T05:39:30","slug":"2023-paintestimony","status":"publish","type":"portfolio","link":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/gospel-express\/2023-paintestimony\/","title":{"rendered":"Turn Your Pain into a Testimony"},"content":{"rendered":"

BY RICK WARREN<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cIn everything we do we show that we are God\u2019s servants by patiently enduring troubles, hardships, and difficulties.\u201d<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

2 Corinthians 6:4 (GNT)<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

We often think that the world is impressed with our success and how we enjoy our prosperity. But they\u2019re actually more impressed by how we as Christians handle adversity.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"When you\u2019re going through pain, non-believers around you are watching you. They\u2019re wondering what it means to be a Christian when you\u2019re in the same kind of pain they are. Does it look any different?<\/span><\/p>\n

The truth is, we have the same pain as everybody else. We just have a different source of comfort.<\/span><\/p>\n

Your successes don\u2019t give you credibility. Your suffering gives you credibility. The more honest and vulnerable you are about the suffering in your life, the more powerful your impact will be in people\u2019s lives.<\/span><\/p>\n

The apostle Paul was a pro at using his pain to model his message. He says in 2 Corinthians 6:4,\u00a0\u201cIn everything we do we show that we are God\u2019s servants by patiently enduring troubles, hardships, and difficulties\u201d\u00a0<\/em>(GNT).<\/span><\/p>\n

Your deepest life message will come out of your deepest pain. The world doesn\u2019t need to see Christians who are perfect or have it all together. They need something real and authentic. They need to see Christians who are patient in pain, who walk faithfully in suffering.<\/span><\/p>\n

Every area of your life where you\u2019ve experienced pain is a testimony. Has God helped you work your way out of deep debt? That was painful\u2014but it\u2019s also a testimony. Has God helped you patiently endure chronic pain? That\u2019s a testimony. Anywhere you\u2019ve had pain and experienced God\u2019s help is a testimony.<\/span><\/p>\n

I beg you not to waste your pain; don\u2019t waste your hurt. People all around you are going through the very thing you\u2019ve already gone through, and they need your help. They need you to comfort them.<\/span><\/p>\n

The greatest witness of God\u2019s love in all of history was not Jesus\u2019 perfect life, his sermons, his miracles, or his stories. It was his suffering.<\/span><\/p>\n

God can use your faithfulness in suffering to great effect in someone\u2019s life. In fact, your faithfulness in suffering could be your greatest witness!<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n<\/div><\/section><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"featured_media":25834,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","tags":[],"portfolio_entries":[35],"class_list":["post-25831","portfolio","type-portfolio","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","portfolio_entries-english-writer"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/portfolio\/25831","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/portfolio"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/portfolio"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25831"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/portfolio\/25831\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25835,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/portfolio\/25831\/revisions\/25835"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25834"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25831"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25831"},{"taxonomy":"portfolio_entries","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/portfolio_entries?post=25831"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}