It’s been said that a good counselor is someone who has gone through a lot of pain him/herself. I think it is true.
Most mental health professionals go into their line of work because they’ve gone through some hard times, and want to help others. They genuinely want to help people and can help them overcome difficulties as they have.
2 Corithians 1:3-4 is right – …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.
A friend of mine whom I value as a very good counselor had a very difficult life growing up. Her mother is bipolar, a very dysfunctional family, parents were divorced when she was young, faced extreme financial hardships, acted as a surrogate mother to her younger siblings. By God’s grace, she is well-adjusted today. But I am sure it was a difficult journey.
All these experiences has given her sharp insight into the human experience. But her skill as a counselor did not come overnight. And it came at a cost.
My favorite Bible teacher Dottie used to say, God doesn’t waste anything. Whatever we are going through, God has a purpose. Maybe it’s to help someone else, maybe it’s to help you grow in ways you wouldn’t have otherwise, maybe it’s so that you can be a counselor to someone someday.
Our experiences in life are never meaningless.