Comforting Others

Chuckle: A child's prayer: "Dear God, is it true my father won't get in Heaven if he uses his golf words in the house?" Anita

Quote: “There is a comfort in the strength of love: ‘Twill make a thing endurable, which else would overset the brain, or break the heart.” --William Wordsworth 

"All praise to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. He is the source of every mercy and the God who comforts us. He comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others. When others are troubled, we will be able to give them the same comfort God has given us" (2 Corinthians 1:3-4 NLT).

No doubt, there have been times in your life when you desperately needed a hug and a comforting word to help you through a difficult time or situation. We all have. If you are a Christian, you are fully aware of the comfort that comes from our Lord, even in the worst of times. But we must keep in mind that God's comfort does not always mean the troubles will go away, but often means He gives us the strength and courage to endure the pain.

Of course God comforts us because He loves us and genuinely cares about what happens to us. However, please notice in our passage that God has a deeper purpose in His comforting us -- to prepare us to comfort someone else who is suffering through a time of trouble and heartache. It's good to keep in mind that every trial God allows you to experience will help prepare you to comfort others who are suffering in similar ways. It gives you the ability to identify, sympathize, and empathize with them. When someone offers comfort to you, it means much more if you know that person has experienced a similar trial. It gives credibility to their efforts to comfort you. You know they understand.

God's comfort provides us a model to use when we reach out to others. He teaches us to reach out in His grace and compassion. Often we cannot remove the pain from our friend's life, but we suffer through the experience with them and offer them the same comfort God has so lovingly and graciously given us. Sometimes a person just needs someone to share their troubles with -- someone to listen.

A little girl lost a playmate to death and one day reported to her family that she had gone to comfort the sorrowing mother. "What did you say?" asked her parents. "Nothing," she replied. "I just climbed up on her lap and cried with her."

When others show tender compassion to the point of shedding tears on your behalf, their comfort can bring you inexplicable peace and contentment even in the worst of times. Let's look for opportunities to comfort those around us who are hurting. When you look outside yourself and comfort others, you will be amazed at how much comfort you receive in return.

 

Love, Jerry & Dotse