The Ministry I Never Wanted

Posted by My Heart Song

6/7/2012

It's been almost a year since I joined a group I never wanted to be a part of: those who have lost babies through miscarriage. 

Yet I was reminded recently that even though I would never have chosen this experience to go through, I am now equipped to minister to others who are walking this same path. 

An old friend - we'll call her Dee - contacted me recently. She didn't know who to turn to, but she has just lost a baby at 10-weeks along. She was hurting and didn't know who to talk to about what she was going through. 

I was humbled that Dee would think of me and ask me for verses that would comfort her, for books she should read, for words that would encourage her, for steps to take to bring healing. 

I shared her sorrow. I encouraged her to cry and grieve and talk with her husband and at least one other close friend. 

The ministry I never wanted. I never wanted to be a grief counselor. I never wanted to be one to comfort other moms who have lost children. And yet, this is where I find myself. 

As I reflected on this, I thought of 2 Corinthians 1:3-4. Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God.

This is just another way that God can work all things together for good. Another way that He can take something that is tragic and use it to mold us to look more like Him. These verses talk of God's compassion and comfort and then how we can truly bear His image when we show His compassion and comfort to others. Somehow we only can pass those things on which we ourselves have received. Only because I have experienced His compassion and comfort can I possibly pass it along to another hurting soul.

What a glorious mystery!

I still wish I wouldn't have experienced miscarriage. But I can be thankful that good is coming out of that experience. My good. And His glory. Through a ministry I never wanted.