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One of the most significant
character developments that comes out of
trials is this:
When we are in our trials,
God comforts us. When we come through a
trial, then we can look back and know how
important it is to be comforted. Then as
we praise God for comforting us, we learn
that He comforted us so that we will comfort
others.
In the ancient language
that the New Testament was written in the
word for 'comfort' is the same as the word
for 'encouragement'. So when God comforts
us we can understand that it means that
God is also encouraging us. You will see
the word 'comfort' and the word 'encouragement'
used together in the following scripture.
Turn with me to 2 Corinthians,
chapter 1, Verse. 3, where the Apostle Paul
is speaking to the Christians in Corinth.
Paul says:
All praise to our 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.
You can be sure that the
more we suffer for Christ, the more God
will shower us with his comfort through
Christ. So when we are weighed down with
troubles, it is for your benefit and salvation!
For when God comforts us,
it is so that we, in turn, can be an encouragement
to you. Then you can patiently endure the
same things we suffer. We are confident
that as you share in suffering, you will
also share God's comfort.
The Apostle Paul wrote
these words from his own personal experience.
May I suggest that you mark this Verse.
in your Bibles, because it can be comforting
when we need encouragement. This Verse.
speaks to us about the troubles that we
have to go through and it assures us that
God will comfort us as we go through these
troubles. God does not keep us out of problems,
but He does comfort us during problems,
and He does bring us through problems.
Let me write a small part
of this same Verse. from a different version
of the Bible. I will summarize from a version
called the "New Century Version",
because it makes the idea a little more
clear, at least it does for me. Here is
what it says:
...Because God is...full
of mercy...He comforts us every time we
have trouble. So when other people have
trouble, we can comfort them with the same
comfort that God gives us...
Yes, the Apostle Paul wrote
this from his own personal experience. And
his experience was not something you or
I would ever want to go through. Paul suffered
a lot for the sake of the Gospel of Jesus
Christ. He was put in prison several times;
he was shipwrecked; his friends abandoned
him; and people almost killed him by throwing
large stones at him and then leaving him
for dead. All this happened because of his
faith in Jesus.
Yet Paul is able to write
these words that still comfort us when we
are in times of trouble.
What are we to learn from
this story about what Paul experienced?
Well, one thing is this:
We do not need to be fearful
when there are trials in our lives. No matter
what we have to face, Jesus is with us during
all of it.
Another thing we learn
is that Jesus will comfort and strengthen
us.
When Jesus comforts and
strengthens us, we are not to just retreat
into our shell.
"Why not?"
Because this scripture
passage teaches us that the comfort and
strength Jesus gives us is to be shared
with other people. Does that mean we are
to only comfort other Christians, or are
we to comfort all people?
What did Jesus do?
He healed and comforted
all kinds of people. He is the example we
should follow. Think of the story of the
Good Samaritan. Neither he nor the person
he helped was a Christian. So the answer
is yes, we are to comfort everyone.
Here is key point of this
teaching:
God comforts and encourages
us when we go through times of trouble.
We are to comfort and encourage other people
when they are going through their times
of trouble. God is not asking us to do something
for other people that He has not already
done for us. I like that.
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