Reduce! Reuse! Recycle!

Reduce! Reuse! Recycle!

Bible Blast: Read 2 Corinthians 1:3-7

He comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others. When they are troubled, we will be able to give them the same comfort God has given us. 2 Corinthians 1:4

Janet Mylin, who is helping me write this book for you, had a very sad day recently. She had to have her cat, Jasmine, “put to sleep.” Jasmine was a beautiful fifteen-year-old Persian, but she was in too much pain and couldn’t live any longer. So Janet was at the vet’s office saying good-bye to her beloved cat. As my friend waited in the vet’s exam room, holding her kitty, she prayed, “God, I’m all alone here today, and I feel so sad. Can you send someone to be with me as I go through this?” She immediately felt God speak to her heart, “I’m here with you.” It was then that she noticed a sign on the door with a carving of a cat hanging from a branch. It said, “Hang in there—It will be over soon.” The humor was a strange blessing. Suddenly Janet realized that her pain wouldn’t last forever. She received great comfort that day from the Lord through his voice and through a little sign on the vet’s door.

One reason God comforts us is so that we can pass that comfort on to others. Just as the focus verse says, he offers us a grand Comfort Recycling Program! Take Janet’s experience at the vet—now when she learns of a friend going through the same thing, she can remind her that the pain isn’t forever. God comforted my friend. My friend can take that same comfort and give it to her friend, and on and on and on.

When you’re going through a hard time, the most meaningful help comes from those who have been through what you’re experiencing. When they look you in the eyes and say, “I know this hurts. I know what you’re going through,” it means so much. I’ve had friends not say anything at all when I’m sad, but they hold me and cry with me.

We’re all going to have hard things happen in life. When those things happen, remember today’s focus verse from 2 Corinthians because God has extraordinary comfort for you.

Girl Gab: Have you experienced something difficult that God could use to comfort someone else? Share that with each other, and then look for opportunities to be a Comfort Recycler!