THE GOD OF OUR COMFORT
2 Corinthians 1:3-11
PRAISE THE LORD FOR HIS COMFORT
V:3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, 4 who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God.
My brothers and sisters, I encourage you to start each day with praise and worship
of the Lord. There is no better way to start your day. Psalms 22:3 tell us that God
inhabits our praise. There is never a time that we don’t need the presence of God
in our lives. God is aware of our situations, but He delights in hearing from us in
prayer.
He is the Father of compassion, the source from which all mercies flow. He favors us
each day with health, strength, and protection. He knows what will happen and prevents
that which would be to our detriment.
When trouble comes our way and it will, He is there to comfort us with the assurance
that He is in control and will work things out for our benefit. Even Jesus our
Lord and Savior while He walked on earth went to Father in prayer for comfort.
The Lord comforts us so we can comfort others with the assurance of God’s
tender mercies. Our comfort is our testimony to the power of God over all
circumstances. We must be encouraged in our troubles so others see in us the
work of God.
OUR SUFFERING IS FOR THE BENEFIT OF OTHERS
V:5 For just as the sufferings of Christ flow over into our lives, so also through Christ our comfort overflows. 6 If we are distressed, it is for your comfort and salvation; if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you patient endurance of the same sufferings we suffer. 7 And our hope for you are firm because we know that just as you share in our sufferings, so also you share in our comfort.
Christ set the example as our suffering Savior. He went to the cross and suffered in
death for you and me. He was lied to for you and me. He was beaten with a whip
mingled with pottery chips and rocks until there was no skin on his back for
you and me. He was nailed to the cross for your comfort and mine.
The suffering of Christ was His mercy and compassion in action for our
comfort. You should never take it for granted that your life doesn\’t matter.
You should never take it for granted that the lives of others don’t matter.
We matter to Christ and we matter to others. We should never take it
for granted that our suffering matters to Christ and others. Our suffering is
for the comfort of others.
Suffering is the work of Christ to produce patience and endurance in our
lives. In Acts 16:22-34, Paul and Silas were beaten and thrown in jail for
preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ. At midnight, Paul and Silas began
singing and praying. God caused an earthquake that rattled the jail
and the gates opened and their chains fell off. As a result, the jailer and
his family received Christ. Their suffering was to bring salvation to those
in jail.
God works the same way in our lives today. All you have to do is consider
what God has done for you as a testimony to others. Our hope and confidence
are in the Lord. That same confidence is what we are to proclaim to others. It
is our hope in Jesus that breaks chains and opens doors.
TROUBLE FORCES US TO RELY ON GOD
V:8 We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about the hardships we suffered in the province of Asia. We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired even of life. 9 Indeed, in our hearts we felt the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead.
We may not know all the troubles Paul experience preaching the Gospel. We do know
that in Lystra, he was stoned and left for dead, in Thyatira he and Silas were beaten. He
was tried in Jerusalem and sent to Rome where he was beheaded. He was commissioned by
Jesus to suffer preaching the gospel so it would spread throughout the world. Indeed,
his suffering was for our comfort.
When we are weak God is strong. Paul was a gifted, preacher, teacher, and leader,
yet God did not allow him to escape suffering. He suffered beyond his ability and
saw only death if God didn’t step in. He learn to rely on God and wait patiently to be
rescued. There are some situations we cannot get out of on our own. God designed
it so we would know that it was Him and not us.
PRAYER WORKS
V:10 He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. On him, we have set our hope that he will continue to deliver us, 11 as you help us with your prayers. Then many will give thanks on our behalf for the gracious favor granted us in answer to the prayers of many.
The prayers of the righteous do much good. When we pray for others, God acts on
their behalf. It does us good to see the success of our prayers through the power
of God. We help others with our prayers. We don’t know how many prayers of
others we stand on today.
It is the favor of God to hear our prayers. It\’s the favor of God to answer our prayers.
It is in the favor of God to bless us with encouragement through our prayers.
THANK GOD THAT WE MATTER TO HIM AND OTHERS
Rev. M. Mitchell
