The Comfort We Have Received
For a long time, I thought one of the most encouraging things I could do for someone walking through a difficult season was to say, “I’ve been there.” When I had experienced something similar, I wanted to tell them what God had done for me. I wanted them to know how He had provided, how He had redeemed what seemed impossible to redeem, and how He had made a way when I could not see one. There is something powerful about hearing from someone who has walked through a similar hardship and can testify to the faithfulness of God. The stories shared with me by friends and family over the years have been deeply encouraging and tangible reminders of all that God has done.
Scripture repeatedly calls us to remember His faithfulness and to tell of His works. Our testimonies can point others toward His goodness, His power, His provision, and His sovereignty. And recently, I've been reminded that my story is not only about telling someone what God has done for me. Sometimes, what God has done in me through suffering may be what He intends to use to help me recognize and meet the needs of someone else.
Paul writes in 2 Corinthians:
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.
2 Corinthians 1:3–4
One way that comfort can be extended to others is through sharing what God has done. God brought me through something difficult, so I can tell someone else what He did. And sometimes that is exactly what someone needs, to hear how God provided for another person when there seemed to be no provision, or how He sustained someone through a circumstance that seemed impossible. Sharing those stories can glorify God and testify to His goodness, mercy, and faithfulness.
But I also know that the comfort I have received from God during difficult seasons has not always come in the form of an outcome. I was not healed. I did not receive closure. The burden my child was carrying was not removed. And yet, God has comforted me.
Sometimes that comfort has come through His people showing up. My husband unexpectedly buying something he knows will make my life easier. My daughter FaceTiming me with my grandson. My son lingering for an extra-long hug. My daughter-in-law sharing stories about her day. My son-in-law whipping up a gourmet meal. A friend coming to have tea when it is too hard to leave the house. God has provided a family and community that sees the suffering, takes the good days and the bad days, and steps into whichever one happens to be today.
What a gift. What a comfort.
Because I have experienced His mercy and comfort through others, I know that the comfort we receive from God is not only something we are called to talk about; it is also something He uses to shape us and through us, extend His comfort to others. Walking through suffering can teach us how to recognize suffering in someone else. Being comforted by God can give us a greater capacity to sit with someone who is hurting. Experiencing His faithfulness can teach us that we do not always need to have an answer because we know the One who does. The ways God has met us in our own affliction can shape how we respond when we encounter the affliction of others.
This is where I want to grow in dependence on the Lord. Not simply asking, “What do I have to offer this person?” but asking, “Lord, how can I best glorify You while serving this person?” My experience, my testimony, my words, my presence, and even my silence can all be surrendered to Him. My story is part of what God has entrusted to me, and I want to be faithful in how I steward it.
That requires wisdom and discernment, and Scripture reminds us that these are not things we have to manufacture for ourselves. Wisdom comes from the Lord, and the Holy Spirit gives us understanding and guides us in how we should respond. We are not left to navigate these moments by our own understanding. We can seek the Lord in prayer and in His word.
If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives to all generously without reproach, and it will be given to him.
James 1:5
There may be a time to speak and a time to listen. A time to share and a time to simply be present. Wisdom and discernment help us know how best to glorify God and serve the person in front of us.
That does not mean we withhold the truth of God's character. We can remind someone that God is near to the brokenhearted. We can remind them that His character does not change when our circumstances do. We can remind them that Jesus has made a way, that death does not have the final word, and that our hope is ultimately found in Christ. We can share what Scripture tells us about the faithfulness of God even when we do not know how He will work in their particular situation.
This is part of what Paul is teaching us in 2 Corinthians. The comfort we receive from God can become a means through which He comforts others. He may use our words, our experiences, our prayers, our presence, or the compassion and wisdom He has developed in us.
May the comfort we have received from Him become a reflection of His mercy to others, and may our lives continually point back to the One from whom all comfort comes.
