OUR ALL-COMFORTING GOD

“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.” 2 Corinthians 1:3-4 New Living Translation

     Why must we go thru trials? Do we seek God’s comfort only so the pain will go away? These are important questions that deserve answers. Paul’s second letter to the church in Corinth starts out speaking about the all-comforting nature of God.

     Regarding trials; if we never went thru any difficulties in this life our faith would never grow and we may perceive that God is not a necessity. Once we’ve had our sins forgiven we would have nothing to challenge our faith and therefore our spiritual growth would stagnate. We must continually feed our spirit man. More to the point of the verses above, how would we console others who are going thru similar situations? Our sole source of comfort emanates from our Heavenly Father. That comfort may come in the form of a family member, spouse, friend or an angel posing as someone you don’t know. This comfort enables us to be a comfort and subsequent blessing to another. Without trials this would not be possible.    

     You’ve no doubt heard examples of those who make all sorts of promises to God if he would do this or that for them, only to develop amnesia once their request is met. God is not a genie in a bottle. He is not a dose of Tylenol or Motrin to cover up the pain. He is Almighty God, Creator of all things. We should seek comfort in the midst of our pain and learn what it means to endure it with grace and dignity. It’s not an easy thing, but with the help of the Holy Spirit, we can be a major comfort to others who are in need. That is part of what it means to be Christ to someone. Until next time, walk with the King and be a blessing!

Resources: The Reformation Study Bible; The Life Application Study Bible.   

* 1:3  Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. The three Persons of the Trinity are equally divine, yet they are one God, not three. As the names Father, Son, and Holy Spirit suggest, certain roles and activities correspond more closely to one Person than another. For example, the role of the Father is to initiate and direct. (Reference note for verse 3 from the Life Application Study Bible.)