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God never wastes our sorrows. Can you think back on a truly tough time in your life when everything looked dark and you couldn’t see the light at the end of the tunnel, but now in retrospect, you see that God used even that horrific experience to produce something good. He certainly doesn’t cause our sorrows, but he doesn’t waste them.
In a conversation with Carol Kent she made this point very clear. In 1999 her son was arrested for murder and is now incarcerated for life. It doesn’t get much worse than that. But when I asked her how Jason is doing now, here’s what she reported:
Carol: He is doing amazingly well. We have just crossed the 20 year mark since his arrest and so I have watched during these 2 decades of time my son go from a 25 year old young man into a middle age man with some graying hair around his temples like I used to have at his age, and I realize that God is using him as a missionary in a very dark place. I was with him recently and we were brainstorming together about how we can do more ministry behind prison walls. Jason has taught Bible studies, he’s been the president of Gallows Club, which is Toastmasters inside, teaching men how to communicate, and I have to chuckle because I teach the SpeakUp Conference where I train Christians in speaking and writing skills, and I see he’s a chip off the old block.
As I look at my situation I never in a thousand years would have chosen this path for my life, but I know God is not wasting this great sorrow, and he’s using it as a launching pad for furthering his Kingdom agenda and spreading the gospel behind prison doors.
I want Carol’s testimony to encourage you today—you who are going through some dark days. Hang on, because God is able to turn your ashes into beauty and your mourning into joy.