Conduits of Comfort
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
Advertisement
Comfort is a powerful word that means “to strengthen, aid, encourage, give hope, alleviate grief, lift one’s spirit from loneliness or pain.” When Paul wrote on comfort in his second letter to the Corinthian Christians, he wasn’t speaking of it in some hypothetical or theoretical way. Paul had experienced profound suffering and trouble, and he had received great comfort and encouragement from God and from God’s people. Paul wanted the believers of that age and all those who followed to know that their suffering is never in vain. He was conveying the truth that the comfort we receive is part of God’s great plan to strengthen and help those who are in need. While the source of all comfort is God himself, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, he gives us the privilege of being conduits of his comfort to those we meet.
Has God brought comfort and hope to you when you were distressed by waves of trials? Has someone’s prayer support lifted you up in a time of illness or brokenness? God does not intend for that comfort to stagnate in our hearts once we receive it. He wants us to dispense it to a hurting world.
Prayers:
LORD, thank you for the times you have comforted me. I know that you have comforted me so that I can do the same for others. This world is full of people who are hurting. Make me sensitive to those I meet who need your touch of comfort. Keep me an open vessel through which your life, love, and comfort can flow.
Quotes:
GOD DOES NOT COMFORT US TO MAKE US COMFORTABLE, BUT TO MAKE US COMFORTERS.
John Henry Jowett (1864–1923)
The One Year Bible Readings for today are: Job 20:1–22:30; 2 Corinthians 1:1-11; Psalm 40:11-17 and Proverbs 22:2-4.
