God Comforts the Troubled and Downcast

“Blessed be the God and Father or 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. For as we share abundantly in Christ’s sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort, too. -2 Corinthians 1:3-5. ESV [Read 2 Corinthians 1]

The overriding theme of 2 Corinthians chapter 1 is God’s comfort. Because a person is a Christian does not assure that he will not suffer afflictions and troubles; and yes, even at times, as was Paul the Apostles and fellow evangelists with him, they were persecuted because of their stand for the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul, who had been one of the Jewish Pharisees before he was converted as he was on the Road to Damascus to persecute Christians, found that his own Jewish brethren wanted him captured and silenced because they did not like him preaching “the new doctrine” about Christ Jesus, Savior, Lord, Redeemer.

Paul pleaded Roman citizenship and was sent to Rome to appear before the emperor there in defense of his faith. Even the journey by ship to Rome brought dangers and Paul almost lost his life as he wrote in 2 Corinthians 1: 8-11: “ For we do not want you to be unaware, brothers, of the difficulty we experienced in Asia. For we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself. Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead. He delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. On him we have set our hope that he will deliver us again.. You also must help us by prayer, so that many will give thanks on our behalf for the blessing granted us through the prayers of many.” In reference to Paul’s danger of being killed, please refer to Acts 9:23-27 to see how the Jews reacted, soon after Saul’s (Paul’s) conversion in Damascus, “the Jews took counsel to kill him.” They did not like Paul standing for and preaching about Jesus, whose death by hanging the Jews had managed to get the Roman government in Jerusalem to do.

But our God is a “God of mercies and all comfort.” And He has promised, that even with our sorrows and afflictions, He will not burden us beyond what we can bear. He is and will be with us in our trials. David praised God for rescuing him from enemies. God’s comfort is the theme of Psalm 56 that ends with this prayer of gratitude for God’s comfort and blessings: “Your vows are upon me, O God; I will render praise to You and give You thank offerings. For You have delivered my life from death, yes, and my feet from falling, that I may walk before God in the light of life and of the living.” -Psalm 56:12-13 (The Amplified Bible).

Lord, I repeat reverently and pray Psalm 56, verses 12 and 13 as my prayer for comfort today. In Jesus’ name. Amen. -Ethelene Dyer Jones. April 29, 2018