“He comforts us whenever we suffer. That is why whenever other people suffer, we are able to comfort them by using the same comfort we have received from God.”
(2Corinthians 1:4 GWT)
We all go through difficulties. Jesus told us that we would have trouble in this world (Jn. 16:33). And, there’s commonality in our suffering (1Pt 5:9b). Someone else has already been through whatever you may be going through and another person may shortly be going through the same thing. This is the reason we should never waste our sorrows.
Someone will one day need our help getting through the same kind of distress as ours. It is also why we should never hesitate to ask for help when we’re going through difficulties. There’s someone who been there before us that can help us through. The reality is that there is nothing that can minister to a troubled heart like the testimony of someone who has survived similar trouble.
God is “the God of all comfort” (1Cor. 1:3), and He comforts us in our troubles (1Cor. 1:4). But He usually sends His comfort wrapped in the wisdom of another person who’s already been through what we’re going through. God comforted the Apostle Paul himself during a time of depression by sending his friend Titus to him (2Cor. 7:6).
In similar fashion, God wants to use us to comfort and help others who may one day need the comfort and help we receive from Him. In fact, helping others through their struggles is one way God completes His healing in us.
In the act of helping others through their sorrows or suffering we discover the power of God to redeem our sorrows and use them for good. We find God using our wounds as fountains to pour His grace for healing and comfort into someone else. In the process, God further heals our wounds and sanctifies our sorrows. They do not go to waste. For, our God is the God of ALL comfort!
©️ Paul R Downing, Daybreak Devotions
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