Our Comfort
Comfort Through Affliction
Future hope enables us to press on in the present, but it doesn’t make it easy.
Lauren and I regularly spent time thinking about passages like 2 Corinthians 4. They gave us hope to press on.
But what made it all easier was the comfort God provided, whether it was through his word, each other, or other people. We were truly blessed to have so many loving people around us.
I remember the day of Christopher’s death, when some dear friends of ours drove from Watertown to Madison to have lunch with us. In addition to enjoying their company, we were comforted by them. In large part, we were comforted because we knew they had suffered like we were, so they knew how to comfort us. Knowing they understood made it so much easier.
In 2 Corinthians 1:3-11, Paul speaks of comfort in and through affliction. He begins by identifying the true source of comfort:
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
The purpose of this affliction-to-comfort process is so that we can comfort others who are in affliction (2 Cor. 1:4). The cause of this is Christ, since sharing in his suffering results in sharing in his comfort (2 Cor. 1:5). There is hope in this process, for all those who share in sufferings will also share in comfort (2 Cor. 1:6-7).
Paul was not oblivious to the reality of his situation, writing that he “despaired of life itself” (2 Cor. 1:8). But this suffering provided comfort as well as an encouragement to rely on God (2 Cor. 1:9). God has, does, and will deliver us from affliction (2 Cor. 1:10). Once again, Paul includes others in this process, including prayer as an important step (2 Cor. 1:11).
Suffering and affliction may be difficult, but it can bring comfort and peace in Christ.
This is part four of my CHD Awareness Week series. To read the previous entry, click the button below:
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