Comfort Others

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.

2 Corinthians 1:3–4

Pause

After our infant daughter underwent brain surgery, she shared a hospital room with a boy the same age. His mother and I visited while we sat by our babies’ bedsides. She expressed fear for her son’s life, so I offered to pray for him. That opened a conversation about Christ and the hope he gives us in crisis.

God never wastes our pain. He uses it to deepen and mature us, but he also uses it to reveal his comfort so that we might, in turn, comfort others in trouble. In the context of 2 Corinthians 1, the original word for comfort is paraklesis. This means more than offering sympathy. It implies “making strong or brave.”

No doubt, God will bring someone into your life who feels hopeless in her crisis. Be that person who comes alongside and offers the strength and courage you’ve received in yours.

Ponder

What words or act of comfort can you extend to someone today?

Pray

Father, open my eyes to someone who needs comfort today.