THE BIBLE MEETS LIFE
After a hard day, we know certain things will help us relax—a hot bath, soft music, ice cream. Some things just bring us comfort.
I used to be a poor source of comfort. When someone faced sickness or death, I’d offer sympathy because that’s what you’re supposed to do. I might even offer a prayer, but seldom would I visit the person or attend a funeral. What good would it do for me to be there? I would have nothing to offer. I’d be more nuisance than help.
Then my niece died. It happened suddenly and without warning, and something changed inside me. Now, when I hear someone is sick, I pray with them instead of for them. I try to help in any way I can, even if that means just sitting with them in the hospital or funeral home. I have learned just what a comfort my presence can be to others.
The apostle Paul also highlighted the comforting role we can play in the lives of others. We can make a difference that’s better than any comfort food.
WHAT DOES THE BIBLE SAY?
2 Corinthians 1:2-3
2 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and the God of all comfort.
Paul followed the Greco-Roman practice of beginning his letter with a greeting, but he used two words that made this greeting unique: “grace” and “peace.” Don’t you like the sound of those words?
We all need the grace that comes through the saving death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. May God transform us and open our eyes so we can see His grace over our lives. May we experience His grace as it covers all our sin, all our hurt, and all our scars. Then, may God fill us with His peace. And may we experience that peace in the fullest sense of the word—peace in our minds, hearts, and relationships; peace at work and at home; and peace with our past, present, and future.
God’s grace is an amazing gift we neither deserve nor fully comprehend. When we experience pain and loss, God showers His grace and mercy upon us. He redeems us and restores us in His timing and through His grace. What’s fascinating is that His grace is multi-faceted. God’s grace not only restores our hurts, it also brings us comfort. As Paul wrote, God is the “Father of mercies and the God of all comfort.” He is the Source of our comfort.
How does God bring His comfort to us? One way is through His Word: “Remember your word to your servant; you have given me hope through it. This is my comfort in my affliction: Your promise has given me life” (Ps. 119:49-50).
As we’ll see in the next portion of 2 Corinthians 1, however, God has another way He brings His comfort to others—one that may not seem so comforting at first glance.
2 Corinthians 1:4-5
4 He comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any kind of affliction, through the comfort we ourselves receive from God. 5 For just as the sufferings of Christ overflow to us, so also through Christ our comfort overflows.
Jesus never promised His people they would be immune from trouble. In fact, He promised the opposite: “You will have suffering in this world” (John 16:33). Thankfully, that’s not all Jesus said.
"Come to me, all of you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest” (Matt. 11:28).
“Peace I leave with you. My peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Don’t let your heart be troubled or fearful” (John 14:27).
Suffering and hardship may be our current reality, but so is God’s presence. He will be with us in whatever we’re facing. When we go through affliction and hardship—not if, but when—God promises that He will comfort us. “He comforts us in all our affliction.”
It’s impossible to sense and experience real comfort apart from God and His grace. True, the world wants you to feel the kind of “comfort” that comes from trusting in yourself, your riches, status, and possessions. The problem with this sort of “comfort” is that you’re never satisfied because you can never get enough. And if all your possessions disappear, all your “comfort” is gone, too.
God comforts us because He loves and cares for us deeply, but it doesn’t stop there. God comforts us “so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any kind of affliction, through the comfort we ourselves receive from God.”
In other words, God comforts us so that we can comfort others!
While God definitely supplies a sense of inner comfort and peace through His Holy Spirit, God also loves to comfort His children through His church, the body of Christ. Such comfort can come through the encouragement of a pastor as he shares from God’s Word or the prayers and support of friends in a Bible study group. It’s encouraging to know others are lifting you up in prayer—even more so when you hear them cry out to God on your behalf. What a gift to know that, in this world of turmoil and trouble, we walk together with the people of God.
As broken vessels and followers of Christ, we are connected to Him, who suffered and died for us. His body was broken for us. We are also connected to Christ as the One who was resurrected and, therefore, brings us joy and comfort. Paul made this connection in verse 5: “For just as the sufferings of Christ overflow to us, so also through Christ our comfort overflows.”
Since you have comfort in Christ, you can and should be a comfort to others—a broken vessel bringing comfort to other broken vessels.
2 Corinthians 1:6-7
6 If we are afflicted, 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 that we suffer. 7 And our hope for you is firm, because we know that as you share in the sufferings, so you will also share in the comfort.
“Our human compassion binds us to one another—not in pity or patronizingly, but as human beings who have learned how to turn our common suffering into hope for the future.”1 Nelson Mandela, who certainly knew about suffering, spoke these powerful words. He suffered and persevered under the racial segregation and oppression of apartheid in South Africa. Mandela was a key leader in the 50-year struggle for equal human rights.
Mandela spent 27 years in prison for his fight against apartheid, but he knew the importance of forgiveness: “As I walked out the door toward the gate that would lead to my freedom, I knew if I didn’t leave my bitterness and hatred behind, I’d still be in prison.”1 He knew, first hand, that the suffering he had endured could ultimately be used to help others turn the corner and experience hope for the future.
God wants to do the same with you. He wants to use the challenges you face and the difficulties you have endured in your past to comfort others. What problems have you faced in your life? Through what hardships have you struggled? What has broken you? God is able to use those experiences as a vessel of comfort and help others who are facing similar difficulties.
Both suffering and comfort are shared experiences for all believers in Christ. As Paul wrote in verse 7: “And our hope for you is firm, because we know that as you share in the sufferings, so you will also share in the comfort.” If someone in the church family is suffering with the pain of cancer, it affects the whole body. In the same way, as that individual is comforted when the cancer goes into remission, the whole church body is also comforted—and they all rejoice together. Only when we learn how to share in one another’s sufferings can we truly grasp what it means to share in one another’s joy.
As the church, we don’t need to hide our pain; we don’t need to pretend we’ve always got our act together. Such pretense doesn’t help anyone, least of all ourselves. Of course we suffer, but we also find comfort in Christ, and we give and receive comfort through Christ’s people who have endured similar struggles. This is both the privilege and responsibility of living as members in good standing of God’s incredible kingdom.
LIVE IT OUT
God wants to use you to share His comfort with others. Consider these suggestions for moving in that direction this week:
- Memorize James 1:2-4. Pray through this passage the next time you experience suffering and affliction.
- Pray. Pray for the persecuted church in the world. Ask God to protect His bride, the church—ask Him to sustain her and strengthen her. Ask God to show you how you can share in the sufferings of the persecuted so that you can also share in their comfort.
- Stay in touch. The next time a friend, family member, neighbor, coworker, or loved one is sick or hurting, call them. Begin to pray with those who are struggling, instead of just praying for them. Listen to them and love them.
The comfort of Christ and the comfort of others are better than any comfort food. Even better than ice cream. Will you take advantage of this amazing gift?
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Teacher Notes:
Click Here to Watch
When you are stressed out, what brings you comfort?
- After a hard day, we know certain things will help us relax—a hot bath, soft music, ice cream. Some things just bring us comfort.
When have you found that experience is the best teacher? Today we consider tough times … grieving we have experienced. These struggles become learning experiences.
God’s work in our lives makes us channels of His comfort to others who are grieving.
I. God is the Source of Comfort
2 Corinthians 1:2-3
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and the God of all comfort.
What appears to have caused Paul to erupt in praise to God?
- God’s compassion
- God’s comfort
- God’s power and authority and love
Definitions of comfort:
noun: 1. To soothe in time of affliction or distress. 2. To ease physically; relieve.
verb: 1. A condition or feeling of pleasurable ease, well-being, and contentment. 2. Solace in time of grief or fear.
What do grace and mercies have to do with comfort?
- grace is when we receive blessings we don’t deserve
- mercy is when we don’t receive what we do deserve
- we might not deserve comfort or relief, but God gives it
- we might deserve reprimand or exhortation, but God gives a sense of well-being instead
Why might a Christian as committed as Paul would need comfort?
- faced death (stoning, shipwrecks, beatings)
- experienced persecution (from both gentiles and Jews)
- struggled with cantankerous church members
- never got to settle down
- had little family we know of to encourage
- spent extended time under house arrest
- felt a lot of responsibility for all the churches he had planted
Apart from God, where do people look for comfort?
- relationships with family and/or friends – sometimes in the wrong kind of relationships
- substance abuse
- chocolate (see substance abuse)
- escape mechanisms (sleep, hobbies, TV, movies, Facebook, etc.)
Why do these sources of comfort fail to ultimately satisfy?
- they are temporary
- they don’t deal with the true cause of the problem
- they can do more harm than good in the long run
How specifically does God comfort you in your troubles?
- His promises
- assurance of God’s love
- the peace He gives in the middle of turmoil
- knowledge that He is sufficient for the need, for the solution to the problem
Points: God is the source of comfort, compassion, and encouragement for troubled times.
II. Called to Be Channels of Comfort
2 Corinthians 1:4-5
He comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any kind of affliction, through the comfort we ourselves receive from God. For just as the sufferings of Christ overflow to us, so also through Christ our comfort overflows.
Jesus never promised His people they would be immune from trouble. In fact, He promised the opposite: “You will have suffering in this world” (John 16:33). Thankfully, that’s not all Jesus said.
What does God do when we are troubled?
- comfort us
- enables us to comfort others in their troubles
- we share the comfort we have received
How does God involve Himself in our troubles?
- sufferings of Christ flow over into our lives
- Christ’s comfort to us overflows to others
In what sense can believers be participants in the work of God in the lives of others?
- we share God’s working in our lives
- we may have had similar problems
- we remember how God helped us
- even if the problems of other people weren’t similar to ours, God’s help through their problems is available to them
- God is powerful and encouraging and comforting and available to all people
What is it about our affliction that allows us to be a channel of God’s comfort to others?
- we better know what they are experiencing
- we can testify to God’s faithfulness and sufficiency in dealing with the problem
- we have more realistic empathy
- we know what kinds of needs they have
What emotions do you experience at the thought of comforting others?
- hesitant
- scared
- don’t want too many details nor too much information
- empathetic towards them
- hope I can be of help
What are some ways you prefer to be comforted by others?
- encouragement
- prayer support
- listening to our thoughts,
- hearing us tell of what we are going through
In other words, God comforts us so that we can comfort others!
Points: God activity in our lives prepares us to be a conduit for His work in the lives of others. The comfort we offer to others is the comfort God has affected in our lives.
III. Use Your Difficulties to Comfort Others
2 Corinthians 1:6-7
If we are afflicted, 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 that we suffer. And our hope for you is firm, because we know that as you share in the sufferings, so you will also share in the comfort.
What did Paul’s distress produce for the Corinthians?
- comfort
- salvation
- patient endurance of the same things he had encountered
How does God want us to help one another in difficult circumstances?
- prayer
- encouragement
- practical help – lawn maintenance, financial, bring in meals, help with child care, transportation, etc.
How have other Christians helped you through difficult circumstances?
- sit with you during a medical procedure (for you or another family member)
- help out with a house hold maintenance issue
- offered to watch the kids
- help with an ox in the ditch (flat tire, car won’t start, dead battery, etc.)
- give a ride
- brought a casserole! (chocolate chip cookies are good too)
Would the following actions bring comfort to someone … why or why not?
1. Just sit with the grieving person without talking
- often the best thing you can do
- in a sense you are sharing the burden of their grief
- be a listener
- be ready to share if they want to talk or ask questions
2. Say, “Because of what I’ve been through, I know exactly how you feel!”
- you might have been through it, but you cannot know exactly how they feel
- maybe better to ask them what their feelings are
- then you can share how God met you in your time of need
- focus on God and His sufficiency, not on your experience
3. Say, “Let me tell you what happened to my cousin. It was really bad. …”
- don’t try to outdo their troubles with a story you have
- this is like bragging, my problem (our my cousin’s) is worse than yours
- they won’t feel better just because you put their problem in contrast with someone else’s
- their problem is hurting them – someone else’s has little to do with theirs
4. Say, “God comforted me in ways that amaze me even today.”
- focus is on God
- points to His sufficiency
- points to His power and love
- doesn’t sound braggadocios for either you or for your problem
Pointers on ministering comfort to others:
In verses 3-11, Paul offers praise to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. List the things for which Paul praises God. What three aspects of God’s character does Paul mention? What is the relationship between afflictions and comfort. What three purposes of the difficulties in life does Prime mention?
1. God comforts us so that we may be able to comfort others [3-4].
2. God allows us to come to an end of ourselves, so that we may not rely on ourselves but on Him – the God who raises the dead [8-9].
3. God teaches us to trust Him as our deliverer, so that praise is brought to Him [10-11].
How does God comfort us?
The passage tells us two ways that God comforts us.
1. God comforts us through the presence and care and verbal encouragement of other believers. People have been the means of God's comfort to me in great measure.
2. The second way God comforts us can be seen in 2 Corinthians 1:9. Paul writes about the suffering he experienced in Asia (This was prior to going to Macedonia): "Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead." Paul was comforted in the midst of the most extreme suffering, he was certain he was going to die right then, by the promise of God in Christ to raise him from the dead. God comforted him by the promises of the gospel. So, His presence and promises.
“Our difficulties are God-given opportunities to prove His compassion [3], comfort [3,5-7], power [9], deliverance [10], blessing [11] and willingness to hear the prayers of His people [11].”
Hope to see you on Sunday!
In His Love,
David & Susan
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