The Comfort God Gives To His People

Looking back over the past year there are many things we can be thankful. Often times we only remember the bad things and forget that God got us through those times by his grace.

We can’t change the past, but we can be thankful for how God brought us through on the victorious way.

As we begin this series on 2 Corinthians, it is a carryover from 1 Corinthians.

I like the way the apostle Paul begins this letter by talking about “the comfort we receive.”

Paul is trying to encourage the Corinthians in particular as well as all Christians universal that God has a comfort for us that is nothing compared to in the world.

Many times, we go through troubles and trials all and we can think about is ourselves. We rarely think of other people who are going through worse times than we are going through. We also do not understand why God is allowing us to go through these hard times.

If I can get a grasp on this, it is going to make my Christian experience that much more joyful.

Nothing we experience can ever compromise the comfort God has for us.

Paul is encouraging us to believe that God has the comfort we need and when we need it.

One of the interesting things in this first chapter is Paul sharing with them the troubles that he had and that many times he did not think he was going to get through it.

“We want you to know, Christian brothers, of the trouble we had in the countries of Asia. The load was so heavy we did not have the strength to keep going. At times we did not think we could live. We thought we would die. This happened so we would not put our trust in ourselves, but in God who raises the dead” (8-9).

It is hard for us to imagine that the apostle Paul had come to such a point in his life and ministry that he did not think he would go on.

Each of us has been at that point I’m sure.

The enemy would have us think that God has abandoned us and we are on our own.

Paul is pointing out to us something quite different. When we think we have reached the end of our strength we discover God’s grace is just beginning.

“Yes, God kept us from what looked like sure death and he is keeping us. As we trust him, he will keep us in the future” (10).

The thing I want to emphasize today is from verse three where Paul says, “our God who gives us comfort.”

This is the focus of our Christian experience. No matter what we’re going through God has provided for us the comfort we need to endure it victoriously and not just get through it.

How does God manage this comfort that he has provided for us in our everyday living? Let me lay out several aspects of this comfort that comes our way as brothers and sisters in Christ.

I. The Individual Aspect.

“We give thanks to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. He is our Father Who shows us lovingkindness and our God who gives us comfort” (3).

Everybody’s experience is just a little bit different. Sometimes we have the idea that we all suffer the same thing. Even people who suffer the same disease often have different symptoms.

When we come to our walk with Christ the enemy attacks us individually at what he thinks is our weakest point.

All of us have a weak point and the devil knows it very well. Sometimes are weak point is what we think is our strong point.

What Paul is trying to point out here is that the comfort God has for us is individually tailored for each person. We can trust God to give us what we need, when we need it, so that we can be victorious in our Christian walk.

It is wonderful to learn from other people how they have managed their Christian life. However, God treats me as though I was the only Christian in the world. I hope you do not misunderstand that. God’s focus on me is as if he had no other focus.

There is no comfort template that fits every Christian. God is looking at us individually and preparing us individually for the work that he has for us. Along with that, individual preparation is that individual comfort that enables us to get through it.

I find it interesting that Paul says that he did not think he was going to get through this experience. None of us are experiencing what Paul experienced. Yet the comfort that God gave to Paul is a symbol of the comfort God wants to give us.