I have recently focused on 2 Corinthians 1:3-11. It has practical implication for my life right now. I think it has practical implications for many today. It is a very helpful passage for one who is suffering and for one who is concerned for another who is suffering. For these reasons, I want to spend some time thinking about this passage with you.
First, I want to draw our attention to a very grounding fact for believers. A fact that shaped how Paul viewed and responded to his own suffering and how he felt about the suffering of other believers. The fact, which grounds us in times of suffering is that we are the children of God and that God is the Father of mercies and the God of all comfort.
“Father of mercies” could refer to the fact that God as our Father is merciful. This is a true statement. Our Heavenly is indeed a merciful father and as one who abounds in mercy and excels in giving good gifts to His children, God gives mercy abundantly to us.
The phrase can also point to the fact that mercies have their origin in God. Coupled with the fact that he is the God of all comforts, or the God from whom all true comfort comes, this description of God is powerful. It tells us that God is the best source to turn to for comfort because he has the power, authority and compassion to dispense it. Furthermore, the comfort that God gives is not weak, fleeting or short in supply. We see that God comforts us, not just in some of our affliction but in all of our affliction.
I take great joy and comfort in the fact that I am the child of one who can and does comfort his children. That fact alone, when focused and meditated on is a comfort. Like a child who is comforted by his father’s presence after a nightmare, so I am comforted by the presence of my God in the midst of my own nightmares. But where the earthly father is powerless to stop the nightmare of his child, our heavenly can stop the nightmares in our lives and can even turn them into blessings, all the while he is with us comforting us with his mercies which are overflowing.
This is why Paul starts the passage with, “Blessed be the God…” for that is our natural response to one saves and gives us comfort: we bless and praise them as our deliverer. May the fact of God’s nature as the eternal giver of all true mercies and comfort animate us with praise to God.
Making decisions in life can be a difficult task. As a follower of Christ it is very important to me that I make decisions, which are within the will of God. I spend a lot of time thinking about and trying to discern God’s will for my life. However, this past week I was confronted by a hard truth, a truth that forced me and then helped me to approach decisions in life and really my very future with a much more “at peace” mentality.
The truth that confronted me is that I often express my desire to know God’s will for my life, when I already have an idea in my mind what it is or should be, and I am really only looking for a confirmation of that fact. In essence, I am saying, ‘God, Make your will match with my will.’
Well, it doesn’t take much mental gymnastics to understand the error of this mindset. Nevertheless, I don’t think I am alone in the approach. We really do want to know what our future holds, but we want it to fit with what we envision that our future should be. So we work hard trying to discern our gifts, looking for open doors that will allow us to us those gifts and making sure that those open doors lead to places in which we will be happy.
I have found that I am most unhappy when I take this approach to life. That is why the idea that it is better to concentrate on being guided by God than discovering His will is so comforting. It reminds me that, indeed, God is my guide. Psalm 23:3 tells us that God guides for His name’s sake. His name is important to Him. Its magnification above all other things is of premiere import, influencing everything He does. That, being the truth that it is, brings me a high level of confidence that as He guides me, He guides me well.
Coupled with the truth of Psalm 139:7-10, that I cannot escape God’s guidance and that he will never guide me to a place where He is not, His good guidance becomes a thing in which I can rest. I no longer have try to discern His will for my life so that I can make sure it is what will best for me. Now, I can rest at ease in my Father, knowing that He is always guiding and wherever he leads me there He will go too, and I will be blessed there. That is comfort to my soul and makes decision making a much less stressful activity.
People are hurting. There is no way around this fact. People all around us are dealing with various degrees of disappointment and sorrow. How do we make sense of this in our lives? What words can we give our suffering friends to comfort them? Where can we look for hope in the midst of our despair?
The short answer to these questions is to focus our attention on God, however this might not satisfy us or our hurting friend if we do not already know why focusing on God gives comfort. We might ask, ‘what is there about God that makes thinking about Him and focusing our attention on Him a means of comfort.’
The answer to this question, the deeper and more effective answer, is found in the scripture’s description of God. We are told that God is our Father. This is a particular truth for those who trust Christ and a promised truth for those who will trust Christ. As our Father, God, who is perfect and holy in everyway, desires for us eternal joy and peace. He knows that this eternal joy and peace is found through perfect holiness. This is why we are commanded by Christ to be holy as our heavenly Father is holy. Through holiness we are guaranteed to find joy and peace.
This may seem insignificant and even trivial to some, but for the one who seriously contemplates this truth there is comfort in the midst of suffering. Of what truth am I speaking? Namely, that God, being a perfect father, knows that for most of us the only means to holiness is through discipline, and therefore, with perfect measure, He disciplines us.
This discipline can take many forms and have as its immediate cause various things. For our purposes we should let it suffice that whenever we suffer, whether because of our sin, the sin of others or the natural disappointments that are a part of life, we are being refined. The yield of this refinement, this suffering, this discipline, ultimately at God’s hands is “the peaceful fruit of righteousness” and the sharing of God’s holiness (Hebrews 12:10-11).
So, when you are looking for comfort in sorrow, when you are looking for comforting words for a friend in despair, it is, indeed, good to point your gaze to God and see Him specifically as your Father, who knows how to give good gifts to you and who knows how to bring you to perfect joy and peace for all eternity. Rejoice in His hand, which shapes you as a potter shapes his clay and know that he is shaping you to be a vessel of noble purpose and exquisite beauty. Take comfort in this as you were meant to.
