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 have received from God. 5 For just as the sufferings of Christ flow over into our lives, so also through Christ our comfort overflows. 6 If we are distressed, it is for your comfort and salvation; if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you patient endurance of the same sufferings we suffer. 7 And our hope for you is firm, because we know that just as you share in our sufferings, so also you share in our comfort.
—The words of the Apostle Paul from 2 Corinthians 1:3-7
Does Louis Armstrong’s rendition of “Nobody Know the Trouble I've Seen’ resonate with you? Unless you are quite unusual you’ve known some trouble in your life.
Maybe you have suffered through the death of a spouse, or a child, or some other loved one. Maybe you have experienced a debilitating disease. Maybe your life’s partner has abandoned you for someone else. Maybe people you counted on and thought were your friends have turned their backs on you. Maybe you have seen your career tumble into shambles because someone at work decided to treat you unfairly. Maybe you have watched your financial security evaporate in a falling stock market, or a bad investment scheme of some kind.
I just don’t know what you have experienced in your life. But, I know this for sure: you’ve had afflictions in your life and you’ve had trials in your life. For what purpose does God allow troubles to come into our lives? Have you ever considered that He may allow these trials in order to teach us that we can rely on His grace to see us through?
Even more startling, have you considered that God may allow difficulties in our lives so we can receive His comfort and, thus, learn how to extend His comfort to others?
In the Scripture passage at the beginning of this blog post, it seems as if the Apostle Paul shares this very concept with the Christians at Corinth. He writes,
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, 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. For just as the sufferings of Christ flow over into our lives, so also through Christ our comfort overflows.
Imagine that! When God comforts us in our trouble, He also teaches us how to extend His comfort to the people who cross the pathway of our lives and who need His comfort, too. This puts all kinds of difficulties into an entirely different perspective.
No one wants to have troubles assail his or her life. But, to experience the comfort from God and to learn how to pass that comfort on to others seems like something we should consider the next time we find some troubles busting into our lives.
Will you pray with me?
Thank You, God, for loving us. Thank You for sending Jesus to be our Savior. Thank You for sending us Your comfort when we experience trouble in our lives. Help us to learn from each of these experiences, so that we may extend Your comfort to those in our lives who also have difficulties. Guide us by Your Holy Spirit to display Your love in every one of our relationships. We rest in your unfailing love for us and lean wholly on Your grace. We pray in the Precious Name of Jesus our Lord. Amen.
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