2 Corinthians 1:1-11

Comfort

There is a particularly damaging doctrine that grew up in the North American church some forty years ago and has spread like a virus in the Body of Christ. This doctrine expresses the belief that Christians, if they have enough faith, will never suffer. We are to always have the best and live lives of complete victory on every level far above the madding crowd.  This doctrine can only be distilled from a careful sifting of Scripture straining out most of what the Bible has to say and focusing on a few verses pulled out of context.

When suffering comes along (and remember that our Lord promises that we would have suffering in this world in John 16:33) people are forced to either abandon the faith as a fraud, or to become a fraud themselves by faking it.

The Bible does not teach that we won’t suffer. Yes, we have the ultimate assurance of victory and eternal life, but between here and the ultimate there may very well be some turbulence. Why? Elsewhere we read about “filling up the sufferings of Christ. We also read about how suffering can indeed purify from sin. Those are two good reasons but here we read a third, “so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God.”

When we allow God Himself to comfort us in suffering we are far better equipped to minister comfort to other in similar situations. Have you experienced the tragedy of losing a close loved one to an untimely death? You can minister to others in a similar situation. Have you encountered chronic health problems? Financial struggles? Addictions? Domestic strife? God can and does do miracles but that isn’t always the way He chooses to act. It may be that in your case He wills to take you in His arms and simply comfort you through the struggle. Do not despise this. He is equipping you to be His agent in this fallen world.

You may never see a great miracle, but you will see His ultimate deliverance. And between here and the ultimate we are all intended to come to know Him as the God of All Comfort.