The Lord God has given me the tongue of those who are taught, that I may know how to sustain with a word him who is weary. Morning by morning he awakens; he awakens my ear to hear as those who are taught. – Isaiah 50:4 I often wonder about why the nonsensical things that I go through have to happen to me. I mean, why would God, who loves me, want these crazy things for my life? It sometimes makes me question what the Bible means when it says, “God loves me.” In fact, it makes me exasperate, “if this is love, who needs the devil?” Yet, for every hard and ambiguous thing I live through, there is a silver lining that hits moments or in future times later. The experience becomes useful for something and that time spent wasn’t for waste. The prophet Isaiah spent an entire career giving God’s nation bad news. I mean, its only natural. Isaiah found himself in civil strife and economic turmoil, so he did the best he could, but much of the destruction and craziness, like we experience today, was suspect and questionable– that is, how can God expect me to get through these things? But it is clear, God wanted Isaiah to get through these things and experience these things with the skills and talents he was bestowed so that he could lead others through them. Isaiah did not have much natural ability according to him, but God gave him and pointed and prodded him so that a lack of natural ability wouldn’t stop him in his mission. We are provisioned with the right prods and experiences to make up for the lack of natural ability, talent or nurture that may disadvantage us for our mission in life. That is one reason why we have the craziest things happen to us. I understand that what I just wrote sounds like theologizing, making my reality fit my faith; but it is too convenient for our experiences to match up with our predicaments and relationships with others by coincidence. You were awakened by God to add value into the lives of other people who faced similar circumstances or are in similar circumstances that you faced. We cannot allow the callousness of, “if I can do it, xyz can do it too,” pervade our mindsets. You were sustained and brought to this point for the sake of offering hope, guidance and comfort to the person right next to you who travels weary. Do not believe for a moment that you were not provisioned with the skills, tools and wisdom to walk with people and shape their lives. You see and hear exactly as you need in order to provide relief and hope. Don’t ignore the people and don’t brush off your experiences.