2 Corinthians 1:3–4: “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 tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.”

May 28th, 2022 by Pastor Ed in devotional

Suffering or tribulation is not a very popular subject in the 21st-century church. The Apostle Paul tells us that we should praise God in our struggles simply because He is God: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Paul focuses on encouraging believers who are suffering, calling God the “God of all comfort.” The English word comfort comes from Latin words meaning “with strength,” and the Greek word means “to come along side and help.” We often feel alone and weak when we are going through stormy times, but we aren’t; this promises us that God comes along side us, in all His power and strength, and helps us.

Mature believers are not to be constantly praying to be rescued from their pressures. As immature believers, we invariably prayed to have our problems removed and to be shielded from troubles. We were always looking for escape. But as we grow, we notice that Paul praised God for the circumstances of his life, even when they were heavy afflictions. Paul didn’t pray to have them removed so that he could escape from them, but saw them as opportunities for the release of the strength of God in his life. William Law, who has been called the grandfather of the Declaration of Independence, said this about afflictions in the believer’s life:

If anyone would tell you the shortest, surest way to happiness and all perfection, he must tell you to make it a rule to yourself to thank and praise God for everything that happens to you. For it is certain that whatever seeming calamity happens to you, if you thank and praise God for it, you turn it into a blessing.

Paul also wrote in 2 Corinthians 4:17, “For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory” (italics added). He means that we are only here for a short time, and then eternity will be so very good, so far beyond what we think of now as good, that we cannot even imagine what it will be like there. Paul also gives us a more immediate reason to draw near to God when we are facing tribulations. Suffering drives us to trust God alone, but it also directly benefits those we serve. When we experience our own personal suffering being comforted by God, it equips us to extend His comfort to others who are suffering.

“LORD, help us to be good stewards of the comfort You have given us by passing Your comfort on to others this day.”