2 Corinthians 1:3-4 New Living Translation
“All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. God
is our merciful Father and the source of all comfort. He comforts us in all our
troubles so that we can comfort others. When they are troubled, we will be able
to give them the same comfort God has given us.”
The fact that the Lord comforts us must mean we will find
ourselves in troubled times. Otherwise there would be no need for his comfort. If we never had any troubles how would we
ever be able to empathize with others who find themselves in trouble? God is
the originator of both consolation and encouragement; therefore he would
naturally be the source that we would go to so that we might overcome our troubles. Being able to identify with someone else’s
suffering can be a marvelous way to show the love of Christ to someone. It may mean coming out of our comfort zone,
but being Christ to others takes a certain genuineness that will lead us off
the couch in the air conditioned house and out to where the hurting is taking
place.
Ask the Lord to
use you as a comforter. Don’t let the
comfort you received dry up and blow away.
God can use us to minister in a very intimate way with some who may be a
complete stranger to us. If you’re
wondering ‘what Jesus would do?’, it surely wouldn’t be standing idle on the
sidelines of life. We all have an
uncomfortable tendency to do that. We don’t want to get involved. We just want to be left alone to live our
life. But see, that’s not what God wants from us as believers. We have to do something with the faith we have. Climb out of your cocoon and fly.
If you’re one
of those who whines and moans about ever problem that comes your way you are
short circuiting God’s plan for you. God
allows troubles to come against us to teach us how to deal with adversity. No matter what we may have gone thru, there’s
always someone who went thru the same or similar situation. Reach out.
Ask the Lord to help you be his hand extended. Until next time, walk
with the King and be a blessing!
Resource: The Life Application Study Bible;
published by Tyndale House and The Reformation Study Bible; published by
REFORMATION TRUST PUBLISHING.
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