Comfort in Our Sufferings

2 Corinthians 1:3-7 ESV
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, 4 who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. 5 For as we share abundantly in Christ's sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too. 6 If we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; and if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which you experience when you patiently endure the same sufferings that we suffer. 7 Our hope for you is unshaken, for we know that as you share in our sufferings, you will also share in our comfort.

Do you see the trials and sufferings that you go through as a training ground for you to minister to someone in the future? Where does your comfort come from?

Of course, your comfort comes from Christ. When you learn that comfort, what does that compel you to do for others who are suffering?

Verse 4 clears it up: God comforts us, so we can comfort others with the comfort He used to comfort us.

What I learn from this is, I am able to help a Christian grow closer to Christ when I share the comfort I received from Him. Moreover this gives me the chance to share Christ with someone when they ask me how I got through a situation.

We don't have to be pastors and theologians to share what Jesus and knowing Him has done with our lives and how He has comforted us in difficult situations.