> Romans 8:28 NLT - _"And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose."_
*HOW TO TURN YOUR PAIN INTO PURPOSE* (A)
Joseph had every reason to ask "Why me?" He was faithful, yet his brothers threw him into a pit. He was obedient in Potiphar's house, yet he was thrown into prison. From pit to prison, for a crime he did not commit.
If Joseph remained on "Why me?", he would have died bitter in prison. But in Genesis 50:20, he finally revealed the "What for?"
> "But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive."
His pain was not just about him. It was a platform to preserve a nation. Your pain is never just about you.
One of the first questions pain brings to our lips is "Why me?" Why did my husband leave me? Why did my business fail? Why is my child sick? Why did they reject me?
It is a natural question, but it is a dangerous question if you remain there. "Why me?" is a question that looks backward. "What for?" is a question that looks forward.
*Pain without inquiry becomes bitterness. Pain with inquiry becomes a message.*
When you keep asking "Why me?", you become a victim. You start to see God as wicked, people as wicked, and life as unfair. That is how bitterness enters. But when you change the question to "What for?"
God, what do You want to produce in me through this? Who do You want me to help with this experience? You move from victim to vessel. Your test becomes your testimony when you ask the right question.
Some often blame their condition on their mother, village people, themselves. Jesus is saying, stop looking for who to blame, start looking for what God wants to reveal.
The first thing that happens when you start asking the right question is that It shifts you from self-pity to purpose. "Why me?" says "I am suffering". "What for?" says "There is a reason for this suffering".
Paul understood this. He said in 2 Corinthians 1:4 *"God comforts us in all our tribulation, THAT we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble*".
God never allows pain to end in you. He allows it to pass through you to others. The comfort you receive becomes the comfort you give.
Second, It shifts you from questions to learning. Don't ask, "Why did my business fail?" Ask, "Lord, what do You want me to learn in this season? Are you teaching me dependence on You? Are you teaching human relationship skills?"
*There is always a curriculum in your crisis*.
David said in Psalm 119:71 *"It is good for me that I have been afflicted; that I might learn thy statutes*".
Father, what for?(...mention that area of concern). Open my eyes to see and my ears to hear in Jesus name.