Comfort in Times of Trouble

August 3, 2014 Background Scripture: 2 Corinthians 1:3 – 11 Lesson Passage: 2 Corinthians 1:3 – 11 I don’t know any sane person who wants to suffer whether it is physical or emotional pain. In fact, many of the people I know will seek to get along with everybody in order to avoid confusion and disagreement. Most will quickly assert: I don’t like mess or confusion! The saying is true that “You don’t have to trouble trouble for trouble to trouble you.” This is all too familiar for Christians. When we are saved, we are recreated spiritually and are made enemies of the world. When we seek to walk or live as we once did, we become carnal Christians and weaken the witness of Christ which is in us. However, when we seek to walk as God has called us to walk, then we become enemies of the world. The evil forces of the world do not avoid Christians. We face constant attack when we dare to minister to the spiritual needs of others. Sometimes these attacks cause great pain and suffering. The Apostle Paul had much to say about suffering for the sake of Christ and his information was not based on hearsay but it was experiential. In one of Jesus’ most noted teachings, The Sermon on the Mount, he said “Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.” We mourn because we suffer pain whether it is emotional or physical. Knowing the promises of Jesus, we seek to be comforted in our times of trouble. In our lesson today, the Apostle Paul speaks of comfort as a progressive grace. Put another way, comfort is not given to anyone as a final resting place for it. No Christian will always be in a state of comfort in this world. We don’t receive comfort that we might always have it on tap to access at our convenience. But rather, comfort is given to us that it might be multiplied in the recipient and then passed on to others who are in need of comforting. Ultimately all comfort comes from the Holy Ghost who is our Comforter. The Holy Ghost often uses people in the process as agents of comfort. Those who receive comfort are then enlisted as agents of comfort by God. When Christians suffer for the cause of Christ, Jesus provides an abounding comfort to help us bear the tribulation. Sometimes affliction and comfort occur in the servants of God for the sake of consoling others who we minister to. When Paul and Timothy suffered in Asia to the point of death, then God’s deliverance of them strengthened their faith. They had no other options if they were to live except to depend totally upon the Lord to sustain them. Paul’s ministry work in Asia—especially in Ephesus—had placed the sentence of death upon him and the other followers of Christ who were there. The evil forces of this world seek to destroy or severely punish those who engage in the work of Jesus Christ. The work of Jesus Christ is in direct opposition to the world’s systems. The world responds by inflicting pain in an attempt to stop or discourage Christians. We are not always in comfort but we do always have the Comforter with us. We give thanks to God that Jesus promised that he would send the Comforter that He might abide with us forever. Therefore, having the witness in us, let us receive comfort in our time of need and in turn comfort others with the same comfort whereby we have been comforted of God. Robert C. Hudson July 28, 2014