Using Our Suffering
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. For as we share abundantly in Christ’s sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too.” 2 Cor. 1:3-5
I read these verses today in my Bible reading plan, and was really struck by them. First is that God is the God of ALL comfort. Every comfort comes from Him, and so it is silly for me to try and run anywhere else to be comforted. So often I run to friends, family, work or anything else when I am hurting or struggling with something, when the answer is right in front of me.
The second thing I noticed was that the goal of the suffering and the comfort we receive really isn’t about us, it’s about helping others: “who comforts us in all our affliction, SO that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction.” How cool is it that God not only comforts us when we are struggling, but also allows us to use our experience to helps others. I don’t want to sit and pity myself, because the Lord is somehow going to use my experiences to help and benefit others!
Lastly, in the footnotes for my Bible the last verse is restated like this: “For as the sufferings of Christ abound for us, so also our comfort abounds through Christ.” This helps me to see that Christ suffered so much for me. It says his sufferings “abound” for us! So because of this, I can receive comfort through Him; what a promise! And the best part is, this is by no merit of my own. The only way I can receive comfort is through Christ, who made that available through His suffering! What a good God we serve!
