CHRISTIAN LIFE: Beneath the Cross

Comfort, according to 2 Corinthians 1; both a resource and a responsibility…..

 

She sat alone by the window, looking out across the fields. The house was strangely quiet. Yesterday her husband of more than fifty years had been buried. She was trying to be brave, but she knew that life was going to be different. Above the mantelpiece was placed an old picture of him in his younger days. As she looked at it, she blinked back the tears. Nobody could take his place in her life. On the table nearby were the cards she had received from family members and friends. The card at the top of the pile said “With Deepest Sympathy,” and inside was a handwritten message from her sister: “May you really know God’s comfort in your sad loss.” The writing was uneven because her sister was 85 and suffered from arthritis. She had lost her husband many years before – killed tragically in a war after just three years of marriage. She certainly knew what sorrow was all about. The recently-widowed lady mused for a moment. Yes, “deepest sympathy” and “God’s comfort” were two things that she desperately needed right now.

 

Meanwhile a young man made his way slowly along a busy street in a nearby town. His shoulders sagged, and he dragged his feet as though walking was a real effort. If anyone had studied his expression and his manner, they would have realized that something was wrong. Although in a crowd, the young man felt very much alone. He had just been told some disturbing news by his doctor. His worst fears had come true; he had cancer and could not expect to live long. How could he break that news to his wife when he reached home? What could he say to his children? If only somebody understood, he thought, as he trudged wearily on, immersed in bleak thoughts about his own future.

 

Fictitious cases? Perhaps, but these two illustrations are not very far removed from the real life experiences of many people. Bereavement, terminal illness, unemployment, tragedy, and disability are found in many homes. Countless individuals crave understanding, sympathy, and comfort and long to know that someone cares. The world often seems a hard place. Is there no comfort for people with hearts that ache?

 

 

WHERE TO TURN

In his second letter to the Corinthians, Paul answers this desperate cry for help. He tells us that plentiful comfort is available for any of God’s people. This is what Paul wrote:- “Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort; who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God. For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also aboundeth by Christ,” (2 Cor.1:3-5 KJV).

 

After a brief introductory greeting and his usual salutation of grace and peace, Paul at once launches into an anthem of praise to God. It is not the blessings of salvation that occupy him here as they do in Ephesians 1:3. Rather, it is a grateful response of thanksgiving to “the God of all comfort” for the comfort that Paul himself had experienced. In these few verses Paul explains both the resource and the responsibility.

 

 

THE RESOURCE

Comfort is something we all need at one time or another. Jeremiah (who is known as “the weeping prophet”) longed for comfort. As he considered the plight of his own disobedient people, he wept aloud and exclaimed: “I would comfort myself in sorrow,” (Jer.8:18 NKJV). But, like all of us, Jeremiah could not do that. We have no capacity to minister to our own inner needs. Our human resources are limited and inadequate. “Is there no balm in Gilead?” Jeremiah asked, (Jer.8:22). Yes, there is a balm to soothe the troubled spirit. Our God, who is distinctly identified as “the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,” is also “the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort,” (2 Cor.1:3). His “mercies” refer to the compassion He has for the ills of mankind. Being the Father of mercies tells us that compassion finds its origin in Him. He is “the God of all comfort” and can come to our side at times of need and minister to us in our deepest experiences of sorrow. All that we need is found in Him. According to the Amplified Bible, He is “the Source of every consolation and comfort and encouragement.”

 

 

 

PAUL’S EXPERIENCE

In his letter, Paul writes that God comforts us in all our tribulation, (2 Cor.1:4). What he means is that in the pressures that burden our spirits and cast us down, the Lord comes to our side to help us. Really? Yes, Paul had proved this on many occasions. He knew what it meant to be “troubled on every side… perplexed… persecuted… cast down,” (2 Cor.4:8-9). He was beaten, stoned, shipwrecked, confronted by perils of all kinds and drained spiritually, emotionally, and psychologically with his heartfelt concern “for all the churches,” (2 Cor.11:25-28). These experiences would surely be enough to deflate the buoyant spirit of any enthusiastic Christian, yet Paul could testify that he was “not distressed… not in despair… not forsaken… not destroyed,” (2 Cor.4:8-9). The trials of life are relatively light and momentary when compared with the “eternal weight of glory,” (2 Cor.4:17).

 

Paul could only write in this way because he knew the personal comfort of his God “in all … tribulation,” (2 Cor.1:4). No situation can be excluded. Supplies of “grace” and “peace” are freely available for all believers, for they come to us “from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ,” (2 Cor.1:2).

 

 

THE RESPONSIBILITY

Why does God comfort us? It is not that we might simply be made comfortable! His purpose is that we might be comforters of others. As “the God of all comfort” comes alongside us in our time of deep need, He comforts us so that “we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God,” (2 Cor.1:4). Just as we are to be holy because He is holy, (1 Pet.1:16), so God intends us to be comforters like Himself.

 

Paul was quick to point out that, humanly speaking, such a ministry is beyond us. Divine help is most certainly needed. “Not that we are sufficient of ourselves… but our sufficiency is of God,” (2 Cor.3:5). The Holy Spirit is called the Comforter in John 14:16-17. He indwells each believer and equips us to help others in their need.

 

 

HARDSHIPS

The Christian life is not an easy one. The Lord Jesus informed His followers that they must expect the same treatment that He had received in the world, (Jn.15:18-20). He was “a man of sorrows,” (Isa.53:3). No human mind can fathom the depth of those sorrows. Yet His sorrows never made Him blind to the needs of others.

 

As our Saviour hung upon the cross He saw Mary, His mother, standing nearby. He tenderly committed her to the care of the beloved John, (Jn.19:25-27). He knew the personal anguish she was experiencing just then – and He brought comfort to her. The Scriptures teach us that we must have the “mind” of Christ, (Phil.2:5). We must have His attitude. Like Him, we must consider the needs of others rather than concentrating upon our own interests, (Phil.2:4). We should therefore look out for the bereaved, the sorrowful, the broken-hearted, and seek to bring the comfort of the Lord to them. Comfort is not making a noise and does not draw attention to the one who gives it, but it is real and is born out of a deep sense of care.

 

 

THE REASON WHY

Sometimes we wonder why the Lord allows sorrow to enter our lives. Why must we experience bereavement, pain and loss? His purpose is that He wants us to be more Christ-like. Also He wants us to prove His grace and comfort in a personal way so that we may be able to understand the needs of others better and comfort them.

 

Many believers can testify to the fact that if they had not experienced some deep personal sorrow in which they proved the Lord, they would not have been able to help other people in similar situations. Having experienced His love and compassion in their need, they find that their hearts are touched by someone else’s sorrow; and the person in need instantly realizes that the one who is helping has trodden that path of sorrow too.

 

Do your own problems seem excessive? Then God’s comfort is excessive too! In 2 Corinthians 1:4-7 “comfort” and other related words are found at least ten times, whereas “trouble” and “tribulation” are only mentioned seven times. The encouragement available is therefore greater than our sorrow.