In 1949 John and Elaine Beekman headed into the jungles of Mexico to reach the Chol Indians with the Gospel. The Chol were a primitive tribe that had no written language, so part of the Beekman’s challenge was creating a written alphabet and teaching the Chol to read and write, in addition to translating the Bible.
Less than a year into their assignment tragedy struck the Beekmans. Elaine became pregnant with a baby girl, whom they named Sharon. Sadly, little Sharon died soon after birth when her body took on a mysterious fever. The Beekman’s took a furlough back to the US to mourn. At the funeral, baby Sharon lay in a short casket wearing an elegant white dress. As family and friends passed by giving their sympathy, one retired missionary gave the Beekman’s a word they would never forget. The veteran said:
“The death of your baby will probably mean much in your ministry among the Chols. The Indian woman lose a lot of babies. Elaine, I expect that God will use you to comfort them with the testimony of this experience.”
That man’s words proved to be prophetic. When the Beekman’s returned to the mission field an epidemic of dysentery and cholera broken out among the Chols. John was able to administer modern medicine and saved many from death, however four babies perished in the outbreak. Having just been through the valley of death with their own heartache, the Beekman’s were thoroughly equipped to minister to these hurting mothers. John wrote, “When I told those mothers about Sharon and our loss, their faces brightened. The Lord knew what we needed to help the people with sympathy and hope.”[1]
Often times when we go through adversity, pain and grief we wonder, “Why me, Lord?” But what we don’t realize is that God uses our hard times as a boot camp of preparation for a greater ministry down the road. This is what Paul had in mind when we wrote at the beginning of 2nd Corinthians, “All praise to the God and Father of our Master, Jesus the Messiah! Father of all mercy! God of all healing counsel! He comes alongside us when we go through hard times, and before you know it, he brings us alongside someone else who is going through hard times so that we can be there for that person just as God was there for us” (1:3-4, MSG).
If we allow it, God can take our brokenness and use it as a means of blessings for someone else. The common ground of suffering breaks down barriers of wealth, education, vocation and age. Shared suffering gives us a clear and open door of ministry into the lives of other hurting people. What this means is that the trials you face may not be just for you, they may be for someone else who will need the strength, compassion and wisdom you are able to give them having gone through the same fire. When we allow brokenness to be a blessing to others, that gives them hope because we can confidently say, “I know what you are going through. God got me through it and here’s what I learned along the way. What He did for me, He will do for you.” -DM
[1] John
Beekman, Peril by Choice (Hendersonville, TN: Accelerated Christian
Education, 1968), 95-98.
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