Comfort my People

Text:  2 Corinthians 1:3-7

Focus: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and the 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.”—2 Corinthians 1:3-4

God had a mission for His people. He delivered the assignment through His prophet, Isaiah. “‘Comfort, O comfort My people,’ says your God. ‘Speak kindly to Jerusalem; and call out to her that her warfare has ended, that her iniquity has been removed, that she has received of the LORD’s hand double for all her sins’” (Isa. 40:1-2).

God commands His people to comfort His people. That’s you and me! We are His caring eyes. We are His gentle hands. We are His soothing voice. We are His compassionate touch.

The problem . . . we are not as good at it as He is! How can we comfort God’s people? That is where the apostle Paul helps us. In his letter to the Corinthians, he provides three principles for comforting others. 

First, God is the Author of comforting. The God of all comfort “comforts us in all our affliction.” The foundational Greek word (forms of it appear ten times in these five verses!) is paraklesis. It means to comfort, advocate, counsel, or help. In his gospel, John referred several times to the Holy Spirit as the Paraclete, the One who comes alongside of us. God comforts us in our times of distress and despair. And His timing is always perfect.

 Scripture is filled with illustrations of God’s comfort. God’s “rod and staff they comfort us” (Ps. 23). He blesses those that “mourn” over sin with His comfort (Matt. 5:4). He comforts those martyred for the name of Christ (Rev. 5:9-11). His comfort for those in Isaiah’s day was the good news that their sin had not just been forgiven . . . it had been removed, bringing an end to their war with their own Father in heaven. God is the Author of comforting.

Second, God’s comforting serves a purpose. Why does God comfort us? Because we need it??? Yes, but there is more. It is so that, “we may be able to comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted by God.” Ephesians 2:10 reminds us that we are saved for the purpose of Kingdom work. God comforts us for the purpose of Kingdom comfort. And we have been equipped to fulfill our purpose. We are giving what we have been given, and we won’t run out!

Finally, God’s comforting is contagious. In verse 7 Paul wrote, “our hope for you is firmly grounded, knowing that as you are sharers of our sufferings, so also you are sharers of our comfort.” The Corinthians had shared in suffering with Paul (see Acts 18). Now they would share in his comfort. They would share by receiving it from Paul and they would share by extending it to each other.

In Matthew 14, Jesus’ disciples pointed out that the masses that had come to see Him were hungry. Jesus said, “You feed them.” They quickly pointed out the crowd was immense. Jesus took a few loaves and two fish, blessed the meager meal, then gave it to the disciples to distribute. They fed the crowds with the food with which Jesus had given them. And they had twelve baskets left over!

Here’s the bottom line. The comfort with which we are comforted is the comfort with which we comfort others. When I bring encouragement to others, I am not the source of that comfort, God is. His comfort of me empowers me, equips me, and emboldens me to comfort others. And He does the same for you. We are conduits of God’s gracious and merciful kindness.

Why does God comfort us? Because we need it??? Yes, but there is more. It is so that, “we may be able to comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted by God.”