9/6/2023
Elijah McSwain, Sr.
2 Corinthians 1:3-4 NKJV — 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.
Life is compromised of difficulties. As people, we encounter difficult moments, difficult circumstances, make difficult decisions, and face adverse crises. Quite often, these troubling times in our lives cause a state of discomfort. In times of discomfort, we are disturbed by some internal or external force that creates a sense of unease, pain, displeasure, grief, sorrow, agony, misery, and despair.
Within our bodily frame, a inner atmosphere of chaos, hopelessness, brokenness, mental exhaustion and spiritual weariness develops due to a climatic shift in our state of mind from peace to a state of discontentment and unhappiness. The internal turmoil that we undergo manifests itself outwardly as a display of physical depletion and a downtrodden posture based on the pressure from our unrelenting circumstances. Hence, our troubling moments create a level of discomfort that robs us of our joy and peace while leaving us wounded from the cares of life.
Richelle E. Goodrich once stated that, "no one is without troubles, without personal hardships and genuine challenges. That fact may not be obvious because most people don't advertise their woes and heartaches. But nobody, not even the purest heart, escapes life without suffering battle scars." 1
Whether a person’s problems are visible or nonvisible, it does not diminish the pain, discomfort, battle scars, broken hearts, mental anguish, despair, hopelessness, or agony from life's crushing blows or traumatic experiences. The trials of life will even leave some people battered, bruised, and damaged to the point that they are never able to move forward or fully recover from the struggles that they experience in life.
As you read these words, you may ask:
How are we able to recover from the things that perplex us in life?
How do we overcome adversity?
How do we bounce back from tragic situations in life?
How do we defeat the realism of discomfort?
The answer to these questions can be summed up by the reality that we can recover or overcome what ails our hearts by finding comfort in God and by being the recipients of the comfort given by our fellowman.
As we consider the theme, The God Of All Comfort, we first perceive that comfort comes from God who is our Comforter.
Recipients Of The Comfort From The Comforter
People who are suffering at the expense of a dilemma that life has brought their way need consolation and comfort. They need aid and assistance in surmounting the predicament that is in front of them. The Apostle Paul gives us insight into the second epistle of Corinthians whereby comfort is given by the God of all comfort.
The emphasis here denotes a divine element of comfort that stems from God. The word comfort in the Greek is emphatic for expressing the notion of calling someone alongside for help. God comes alongside the believer through the agent of the Holy Spirit as our Comforter, a Paraclete who helps in our struggles.
John 14:16 NKJV — And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever.
The third Person of the Godhead is our Encourager who reassures us and strengthens us in our difficulties.
As people who live in a troublesome world full of every form of trouble, we need help to navigate through the mental, emotional, and spiritual ruts of life.
The approach of attempting to handle life in our own power and might will leave us mentally, physically, and spiritually depleted. We stand in need of help from an outside source who will remedy our ailing and ruptured hearts, provide comfort for our anxious minds, and provide peace in the midst of uncertainty. For every trial, tribulation, calamity, issue, burden, or hardship that presents itself, the God of all comfort is able to provide comfort no matter the unfavorable situation.
God is able to provide consolation in times of bereavement, in mourning, through physical affliction, in the midst of loneliness, through adversity, in disaster, in a financial crisis, in a loss of a job, in marital issues, in depression, in heartaches and more to soothe as well as revitalize the mind.
Isaiah 51:12a reveals the mind of God by the declaration, “I, even I, am He who comforts you. God is a Comforter among comforters. There is no one who can compare to the peace that He gives in the midst of our storms. The Apostle Paul alluded to this kind of comfort by his declaration that God comforted him and others in their tribulation (v. 4). Paul bore witness that God’s comfort is on display the most in our trying times of suffering. When the walls seem to be crumbling in life, the sustaining power of God upholds us in our tribulation.
"The term tribulation refers to crushing pressure, because in Paul’s life and ministry there was always something attempting to weaken him, restrict or confine his ministry, or even crush out his life. But no matter what confronted him, Paul knew God would sustain and strengthen him." 2
God comes to our aid as a Helper when we direct and address our concerns before Him. Several Scriptures reveal this truth:
Psalm 18:6 NKJV — In my distress I called upon the Lord, And cried out to my God; He heard my voice from His temple, And my cry came before Him, even to His ears.
Psalm 142:1-3, 5 ESV — With my voice I cry out to the Lord; with my voice I plead for mercy to the Lord. I pour out my complaint before him; I tell my trouble before him. When my spirit faints within me, you know my way! I cry to you, LORD; I say, “You are my refuge, my portion in the land of the living.
Psalm 50:15 NKJV — Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify Me.”
Psalm 94:17-19 ESV — If the LORD had not been my help, my soul would soon have lived in the land of silence. When I thought, “My foot slips,” your steadfast love, O LORD, held me up. When the cares of my heart are many, your consolations cheer my soul.
God is our source and personification of comfort. His mercifulness and comfort is a calming presence in our rigorous plights here on earth. He comes alongside in a restorative manner to help us find relief and in the process of providing relief we gain renew of emotional, mental, physical, and spiritual strength.
Psalm 147:3 NKJV — He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.
By God’s comforting care we are able to be sustained in the midst of hurt and pain. The heart that is grieved, the spirit that is troubled, the mind that is filled with sorrow, and the countenance of a person that is overwhelmed by sadness, God provides healing for the lives of those that have been scarred by affliction.
"Our greatest comfort in sorrow is to know that God is in control." 4
God is in control of every situation. There is no distressing moment in life that is beyond His reach. The psalmist wrote in Psalm 34:18, "the LORD is near to those who have a broken heart and saves such as have a contrite spirit."
After Paul addressed the divine element of comfort, he stated that we can be recipients of the comfort from among humanity.
Recipients Of The Comfort From Among Humanity
The God of all comfort not only provides comfort from a divine perspective, He also gives heavenly comfort through the avenue of other people. Paul declared this truth by placing emphasis that God 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 (v.4). The comfort that we are given by God should be extended by us unto others.
"God does not comfort us to make us comfortable only, but to make us comforters." 3
The daunting moments in the lives of others are used by God to be a source of encouragement and strength for those who are going through the same discomfort and burdensome trial. The lives of others are used as a testimony of God’s goodness, mercy and grace to those who are currently afflicted by immense pain and agony from dire circumstances.
"We comfort one another with the comfort of God, not our own. God’s comfort on an individual believer enables him to comfort others. Our Lord channels His comfort through other believers. The means whereby we comfort others is how we have been comforted." 5
For those who have lost a child, the comfort of those who have been where they are now helps to bring consolation to their trouble spirit. For the person’s marriage that is on the rocks, the comfort of other couples who marriage was once rocky but now is flourishing provides hope. For the person on the verge of giving up, the comfort of the once depressed state of others who overcame their challenges provides a sense of perseverance. For the person whose life has crumbled, the comfort of the individual’s life that has been shattered but pieced back together again provides solace. For the person who has lost everything, the comfort of what others have lost but later on those things have been restored gives optimism in looking forward to more favorable conditions.
God uses people to help others get over the hump.
This is the same case as it relates to the biblical accounts in Scripture. God uses the former things that others have endured to spark a sense of hope within us. The reality of Paul’s life of being persecuted, beaten, shipwrecked, among robbers, hungry, thirsty, cold, and naked provides hope for those in the same situation. The life of the woman with the issue of blood projects forth that no matter what chronic ailment that a person may have for a number of years, Jesus is able to heal. The life of three Hebrew boys being thrown in a fiery furnace gives a sense of hope that no matter how fierce or intense the situation, God is more than capable of persevering us.
Romans 15:4 NKJV — For whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope.
The same hope and comfort that the biblical writings reveals about others, is the hope and comfort that we have received and should demonstrate to others. Those of us who have endured certain trials should bear the infirmities of those who have been weakened by the same threat. Romans 15:1 informs us that we who are strong ought to bear with the infirmities of the weak, and not to please ourselves.
When people are downtrodden by their current reality of pain, we should build them up.
Romans 15:2 ESV — Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, to build him up.
The ability to carry the heavy loads of others is fulfilling the law of love as determined by Christ .
Galatians 6:2 NKJV — Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.
It is our Christian responsibility and duty to assist others in their fallen state based on the genuine concern and love that we have for them. Every believer should get under the heavy burden that other people are bearing in a effort to ease the load. Let us be a blessing to our fellowman by being an extension of God’s comfort that we once received.
References
https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/tag/hardship
The MacArthur Study Bible
https://viralbeliever.com/comforting-christian-quotes/
BibleGodQuotes.com
Grant Richison. Verse By Verse Commentary