… the God of all comfort … comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God. — 2 Corinthians 1:3-4
Human suffering provokes a whole range of responses. Job’s "comforters" added to his torment by assigning blame where it didn’t belong. They thought they were helping, but disapproval should never be mistaken for a solution.
Some sympathy is merely thinly veiled contempt. Some "comforters" want to feel better about themselves by pretending to care about others. Some people empathize — they feel pain with the sufferer, usually because they’ve experienced pain themselves.
But God goes way beyond all of this. Yes, God listens. And, yes, He cares. He does feel our pain. Jesus was a Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. But when the listening is done and the empathizing is over, God has more for us. He has comfort.
What is comfort? It is peace in the place of panic. It is joy in the place of grief. It is settled contentment in the place of great loss. It is the God-given ability to look trouble in the face and laugh. It is the realization that "those things" don’t bother us any more.
Comfort is a great treasure. It is buried in the middle of trouble. It eludes many. But when we bring Jesus into our places of pain, He will find it for us.
Be encouraged!
Dwight
Dwight Clough is the author of four Christian books and is an active member of Lake City Church in Madison. This devotional is also available via email and you may review the archives back to 2002. To contact Dwight or Kim, use their contact form. You may also support their ministry.