Well lately I have been on these short God phrases, why? Well for one I am add and have the attention span of a 10 year old, but also because they speak volumes when you sit and think about it. I wrote an earlier one called God is faithful. It spoke of how God is faithful in all He does in our lives. This one focuses on how Jesus Christ, God Himself gives us comfort in our time of need. Whether your reading this with a broken heart, a broken marriage, a loss, stress from work or school, or not knowing what God's will is, maybe scared about where your headed........know that you have a God of comfort.
Lets go....
2 Corinthians 1: 3-7
"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, 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. For just as the sufferings of Christ flow over into our lives, so also through Christ our comfort overflows. 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. These verses are the premise for the message today. As you have noticed I highlighted some words. I believe that when Scripture repeats something God is telling us something. The word comfort in itself is a nice sounding word. Dictionaries define comfort as: to soothe, console, or reassure; bring cheer to. SO as you read this passage and as we study it take one of those words and substitute it.vs. 3"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort,"What I find most interesting about Paul is that when you read his letters he always begins with first a praise to God for all He has done through Christ. Paul also gives a description of what God is! Here he tells us that we have a heavenly Father of compassion and comfort. Here Paul sets the premise: God is compassion and comfort, and provides it for all who seek it. Remember the names of God: Jehovah Jirah "The Lord Provider" and Jehovah Shalom-"The Lord our Peace" Isaiah 9:6 describes the Lord Jesus as the Prince of Peace. vs. 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."
This is the thesis if you call it of the entire passage of vs. 3-7. First and foremost in our times of trouble and trials, hardtimes, sorrow, pain, whatever it may be the Father of compassion and comfort GIVES comfort to us in all our troubles. Not some of our troubles, but all, please remember that. That even though it may seem that God is distant, not there, when it seems like your prayers are bouncing off the ceiling and back at you, or it just seems hopeless, know there is a God who comforts. God has never left! He loves you and wants to comfort you. And because he has comforted so many of us in our ANY of our troubles we can comfort others because of the comfort we have known. vs. 5-"For just as the sufferings of Christ flow over into our lives, so also through Christ our comfort overflows
Now one interesting aspect of comfort is that in order to be comforted we must suffer. What??!! Did you know you are called to suffer as a believer in Christ? Well naturally, look at verses like James 1:1-2, Phil. 1:29, 2 Tim. 3:12, and Acts 14:22. All tell of the coming suffering that all believers must endure, not for pure enjoyment but for building and edifying. God allows us to suffer and calls us to suffer so that we may persevere. Does it feel like you get more suffering than others? SOmetimes, but we dont compare ourselves to the problems of man, but the rejoicing we get from knowing that God allows things to happen to test our faith (1 Peter 1:6-7).
vs. 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."
Paul in this verse is relating the current sufferings and possible future sufferings to the ones that he has suffered. "We" can be seen as interchangle in meaning Paul himself ( yes it would be singular but Paul uses the plural for relation but can also mean Christians as a whole). I want to focus on the bolded part: so that the comfort provided will give you patient endurance! Even the sound of patient endurance sounds peaceful. This comes to mind all those verses you ever heard about rejoicing, being patient, and persevering in trials. ( James 1:1, 1 Peter 1:7, Romans 8:28, etc......) In your times of trials, problems, whatever it may be: Be patient because you are going through this for a reason. Not because GOd hates you, or because he has left you, but because He loves you. He loved you so much He gave His only Son to die for you. He knows what it feels like to be rejected, to be mocked, to hurt, to be alone, but He did it for you. First so that you would reside in heaven with Him forever, but also to let you know that He understands how you feel because He's been there.
THE POINT:
So whats the point of all this?
1. We have a God who comforts; soothes, reassures; and consoles us.
2. That no matter what troubles come at us, Christ is there ready to face it with you.
3. We as Christians suffer with each other, and since we suffer together, therefore we also rejoice together ( or atleast we should and are called to!!).
May God Bless you!
