The God Of All Comfort Series

There is an old story floating around about a soldier who was wounded in a battle. His commanding officer ordered him to go to the nearest military hospital. When he arrived at the entrance, he saw two doors: one marked “For Minor Wounds,” the other “For Serious Wounds.”

He entered the first door and walked down a long hallway. At the end of the hall, he saw two more doors. The first read “For Officers,” the other “For Enlisted Men.” The soldier went through the second door.

Again, he found himself walking down a long hallway with two doors at the end. One read “For Party Members,” the other “For Non-Party Members.” The wounded soldier took the second door and found himself back out on the street.

When he got back to his unit, his buddies asked, “How'd your trip to the hospital go?”

“The people really didn't help me much,” he replied, “but, man, are they organized!” (Andy Cook, “The Search for God's Own Heart,” Men of Integrity, March/April 2005; www.Preaching Today.com).

There are a lot of people looking for help these days, but they rarely find it. Oh, they might find a lot of bureaucratic red tape, but where do you go to find real help, especially for the soul wounds that take you out of the battle? Where do you go to find healing for your heart?

Well, if you have your Bibles, I invite you to turn with me to 2 Corinthians 1, 2 Corinthians 1, where the Bible points us to the only source of real help and healing.

2 Corinthians 1:1-2 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, To the church of God that is at Corinth, with all the saints who are in the whole of Achaia: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ (ESV).

Paul introduces himself as “an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God.” At the end of the book, Paul will take four chapters to defend his authority as one of Christ’s apostles (chapters 10-13). So here, at the beginning of the book, he mentions his authority to get his readers ready for what’s coming.

You see, not only did Roman and Jewish officials outside the church persecute Paul. Some within the church questioned his authority and tried to discredit him. Paul endured a lot of pressure and pain, which he could have avoided, except God called him as an apostle and gave him a concern to help people, especially the Corinthian believers.

This book we call 2 Corinthians is actually the 4th letter Paul wrote to the Corinthian believers. The 1st letter Paul mentions in 1 Corinthians 5:9 is lost. The 2nd letter is our 1st Corinthians, which addresses various problems in the church. The 3rd letter written “with many tears” (2 Corinthians 2:4) came after Paul made a “painful visit” (2 Corinthians 2:1) to Corinth a few years after he founded the church there. That 3rd letter is also lost, which brings us to the 4th letter Paul wrote to the Corinthian believers, our 2nd Corinthians. Paul wrote 2nd Corinthians as a follow-up to his “painful visit” and tearful letter to encourage the Corinthian believers.

They, like Paul, were experiencing a lot of turmoil from within and without the church. So listen to what he has to say to them and to you and me in any age going through troubling times.

2 Corinthians 1:3-4 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, 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 (ESV).

In the midst of all the turmoil, Paul begins with praise. And that’s where you must begin to find healing for your heart.

PRAISE GOD WHO COMFORTS YOU IN AFFLICTION.

Bless the Lord who helps you when you suffer. Literally, eulogize, or speak well of, the Almighty who strengthens you in your pain.

Don’t blame God. Instead, bless the Lord, who comforts you.

Now, the word "comfort" here has more to do with strengthening than soothing. In other words, God doesn't just relieve your pain; He stiffens your resolve. The Greek word literally means “to come along side of someone.” And that’s what God does when you are hurting. He comes along side of you to give you the courage to keep going.

Bryan Wilkerson, pastor of Grace Chapel in Boston says, “Comfort, according to the Bible, isn't about feeling better; it's about feeling stronger.”

Author Bob Greene describes a season of hurt in his own life. He writes:

When my wife died, I was so numb that I felt dead myself. In the hours after her death, our children and I tried in vain to figure out what to do next, how to get from hour to hour. The next morning—one of those mornings when you awaken, blink to start the day, and then realize anew what has just happened and feel the boulder press you against the earth with such weight that you fear you will never get up—the phone rang, and it was Jack.