3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, 4 who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God. 5 For just as we share abundantly in the sufferings of Christ, so also our comfort abounds through Christ.
2 Corinthians 1:3-5
Our God is faithful to comfort us in our troubles. I have experienced this verse this past week. I was feeling pretty down as the week began. Tuesday was the worst day for me. After a couple of things that felt like setbacks with this whole tumor deal, I was smarting from the blows. I’m sure you understand what I’m talking about. Sometimes we don’t get the news we hoped to get. Sometimes our plans for what seemed like the “way forward” don’t actually pan out. Those moments can be deflating … and disheartening.
BUT … our God is a God of comfort who is able to soothe our wounded souls quite separately from solving our current problems. Even in the middle of the trouble, He is an expert at speaking the right word or providing the right kind of presence that can bring relief and invigoration to our deflated hearts well before our troubles are alleviated. What a Savior!
The sources of comfort He has sent my way this past week have been many. From thoughtful, knowing smiles that were cast my way, to warm hugs with a special word of encouragement, to concerned questions, to brothers and sisters going out of their way to offer help that eased our burden, to bright, sunny days that warmed my heart as I rode my bike, to a wife and kids that fully embrace this journey with me. The presence of the Lord through those who have also received comfort from God and are now passing it on has been real and welcomed! But God wasn’t content to encourage me through the people around me right now, He also guided me to a book about a brother who found himself in prison many centuries ago and how he encouraged himself with Scripture. As I read those Scriptures with his insight through his own trouble, I found comfort and hope in mine.
Each of these things and more have comforted my heart this week, and I have received them as an abounding comfort that is more than sufficient for the trouble at hand. When you find yourself in some sort of trouble, may you also find our Lord Jesus to be an ever-present help and the very God of comfort.
– Deryk Pritchard, Preacher