Your witness to the world will come out of your weaknesses, not your strengths.
Many Christians think that the world is impressed by their successes and prosperity. In actuality, the world is not impressed because they see prosperity everywhere. What really impresses non-believers is Christians handling adversity, not prosperity. Your suffering, not your success, gives you credibility. Your faithfulness, not your fame, earns respect.
The apostle Paul used his pain as a witness. He wrote from a prison dungeon in Rome, “I want you to know, my dear brothers and sisters, that everything that has happened to me here has helped to spread the Good News” (Philippians 1:12 NLT).
How we handle our failures, defeat, problems, sin, and all the ugly things that happen in our lives is what impresses non-believers. It doesn’t take God’s power to handle the good things in life; anyone can handle good. It takes God’s power to endure suffering and pain. The world doesn’t have a good answer for how to endure. But followers of Christ patiently endure suffering, hardship, and trouble of every kind as it’s a way to bear witness to the Good News of Jesus.
Your deepest ministry will come out of your deepest hurt—and your deepest life message will come out of your deepest pain. In every area of your life where you’ve had pain, you have a testimony. How will you use it to help bring others from despair to fullness of life in Christ?
我們能夠向世界做見證的是出自我們的軟弱，而非優勢。
許多基督徒認為他們的成功與豐裕給世人留下了深刻的印象，實際上，世人並不會留下深刻的印象，因為他們到處都能看到豐裕。真正能讓非信徒留下深刻印象的是基督徒如何面對逆境，而非順境。你的受苦而非成功給你帶來了信譽，你的忠誠而非名望贏得了尊重。
使徒保羅使用他的受苦作為見證，他在羅馬監獄中寫道：「弟兄們，我願意你們知道，我所遭遇的事更是叫福音興旺。」（腓立比書1:12）
我們如何處理挫折、失敗、問題、罪惡，以及我們生命中所有的黑暗面，會為非信徒留下深刻的印象。面對生活中的美好無須倚靠神的能力，任何人都可以面對；而承受患難和痛苦則需要神的能力。世界對於受苦並沒有一個好的答案，但跟隨基督的人耐心忍受各種患難、困苦、艱難，因為這就是見證耶穌福音的一種方式。
最深的事奉源於最深的傷害，而最深的生命信息源於最深的痛苦。在生活中每個受苦之處，都有一個見證。你將如何使用它來幫助人從絕望中得著基督豐富的生命？
～ Rev. Jireh Lin 林以勒牧師～