Read: 2 Corinthians 1:3-11
As you share in our sufferings, you will also share in our comfort. (v. 7)
Everything was ready for Kathy’s leadership team dinner; her famous lasagna had just come out of the oven. That’s when the call came. Four of the student leaders, on their way to dinner, were in a serious car accident. Instead of the planned dinner, the leadership team met at the hospital to pray for them. Late that night, Kathy dropped into bed exhausted. Through her sadness there was a sense of peace as she thought of the students’ heartfelt prayers and the deep fellowship they had experienced that evening.
No one avoids suffering, it’s a part of the human condition. We wonder how a good, loving, and all-powerful God can bear to see so much suffering. Yet we have his promise to always be with us, offering peace that passes understanding (Phil. 4:6-8). Jesus is familiar with suffering and grief, which he experienced on this earth too. Our ever-present Savior, High Priest, and Friend is a comfort to us in our own suffering. Rather than avoiding or ignoring it, we can enter in, knowing God is with us.
As we share in the sufferings of Jesus and of others, offering the comfort that we have received, our burdens become lighter; and we may also receive unexpected gifts of deep fellowship, faith formation, and sanctification that are obtained through our suffering. —Bonnie Nicholas
As you pray, ask God to grant you comfort, so that you can offer that same comfort to others.
About the Author
Bonnie Nicholas, LMSW, retired in 2020 after serving as Director of Safe Church Ministry in the Christian Reformed Church in North America.
