By Kenneth B.E. Roxburgh, Ph.D.
Professor of Religion, Samford University
A Channel of Comfort
2 Corinthians 1:2–7
When we use the word “comfort,” we tend to think of a warm feeling that makes us feel good. We give a “comforter” to a baby who is teething. We like to sit in our favorite “comfortable” chair where we feel safe and secure.
Paul opens us to a different understanding of the word and a different window through which we can learn about God’s means of blessing His people.
God is the source of all comfort. (2–3)
The comfort of God does not inoculate us from all the difficulties of life. It is more like a gift God gives to us as a way of dealing with affliction, transforming our attitude and actions so that we might be a means of help and comfort to other people.
Another misunderstanding which many people have is to think that prosperity is a sign of God’s love toward us and adversity, suffering and affliction are an indication that God is angry with us and is judging us. Paul rejects this idea, as did Jesus in John 9:1–3.
To Paul, experiences of suffering enable us to draw upon the resources of God — grace, peace, mercy and comfort. Paul uses all four words in the first two verses.
Rather than disadvantage the believer, suffering can be used to draw us closer to God and discover the resources of His love for our lives.
We are called to be channels of God’s comfort. (4–5)
Not only are we blessed by God as we depend upon Him, but He also begins to use us to be a means of blessing to others. God’s comfort for our lives is our model and our inspiration. Our consolation is so abundant that we cannot contain it within our own lives.
If we have truly discovered the grace and mercy and peace of God, then we will want to share that with others. It becomes infectious.
Sometimes we find ourselves in the presence of someone who is in deep distress, yet the person’s spirit is buoyant. That buoyancy of spirituality cannot be contained; it spills over.
We can use our difficulties to comfort others. (6–7)
God’s providence in overseeing our lives enables us to trust Him and to use all our encounters — whether pleasant or otherwise — to mold us into the people He wants us to be.
The key to such an attitude is patiently to endure the experience of suffering. That is easier said than done. It means to keep on going, day by day, week by week, even when there is little to make us think that times will get better.
We patiently endure because that is what our Savior Himself did when He “endured the cross” because He was looking forward to the “joy that was set before Him.”
Winston Churchill, the great leader of Great Britain during the Second World War, returned to his old school at Harrow to give a commencement speech at a period of great difficulty in the 1940s. He stood before the young men who were gathered and finished his speech by challenging them: “Never give up, never, never, never give up!”
Paul is near the end of his rope, perhaps facing death. Despite innumerable hardships, he believes that distress should not have the last word. He even found joy in the midst of his pain. In that way, he could bring comfort to other people in similar circumstances. The same is true for us.
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