The God of All Comfort
2 Corinthians begins with a reminder of who believers are in Christ and their connection to others who have also put their hope and trust in Jesus. Like it or not, suffering connects us. It is a part of God’s big story of redemption as well as each of our individual stories. Elizabeth Elliot, a woman well-acquainted with suffering, described suffering this way: “having what you don’t want or wanting what you don’t have.” (Elizabeth Elliot, Suffering Is Never for Nothing (B&H Publishing Group, 2019)) This definition of suffering has reshaped my thinking and made me more thoughtful and compassionate toward those around me.
For some, there are seasons of suffering that feel unbearable. Some grief arrives suddenly and changes everything. It brings traumatic, invasive, and inexplicable pain. For others, burdens seem smaller by comparison—a difficult relationship, a tiresome job, disappointment, exhaustion, anxiety, or simply the daily weight of living in a broken world. Yet Scripture makes no distinction when it comes to the sufficiency of God’s comfort. He is the “God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction.” The key word is all.
In the first seven verses of 2 Corinthians, the word comfort is repeated 10 times, drawing our attention to the compassionate heart of God. Paul is so overwhelmed by this; he breaks out in doxology. His God is not a distant God who watches suffering from afar. He is a Father full of mercy who stoops low to meet His children in their distress. He enters into our pain with tenderness, compassion, and sustaining grace.
Paul describes his own suffering as “utterly burdened beyond our strength” and even said he “despaired of life itself” (v. 8). Yet in the middle of that anguish, Paul learned something life-changing: suffering drives us away from self-reliance and into dependence on God. He wrote, “That was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead” (v. 9).
The One who comforts is also the One who raises the dead. Confidence in this reality gives us the fortitude to press on in circumstances which seem destined to destroy us because we understand that even in death, we will experience resurrection by the power of God. As believers, we have this hope in our literal, physical death, but also experience resurrection life – eternal life, abundant life – in the here and now as we persevere through our afflictions and die daily to self and sin.
The same God who conquered death through Christ is fully able to sustain us in every trial. Even when we cannot see deliverance immediately, we know our suffering is never wasted. God is working in us a deeper trust, a greater dependence, and an eternal hope that cannot be shaken.
But His comfort never stops with us. God pours His comfort into our hearts so that it overflows into the lives of others. The pain we have walked through often becomes the very place from which we minister most tenderly. We do not have to walk in someone else’s shoes to offer them the comfort we have received from our merciful Father. As recipients of God’s mercy, we become instruments of His mercy.
We also see in 2 Corinthians 1:11 the reminder that prayer matters. Paul believed the prayers of God’s people strengthened and sustained him. He encourages the faithful prayers of God’s children, proclaiming that they will result in blessings for those in need of deliverance, as well as in thanksgiving to God. As we pray for one another, we participate in God’s work of comfort, endurance, and deliverance.
LIFE-GIVING ENCOURAGEMENT
Perhaps today you feel weary under the weight of suffering. Maybe you are carrying grief no one else can fully see. Take heart: the God of all comfort sees you. He is near to you. He is sufficient for you. And He is able to sustain you with resurrection power. Your suffering deepens your dependence and reliance on the One who raises the dead and transforms you into a more gracious and compassionate comforter of others.
PRAYER
Father of mercies and God of all comfort, thank You for meeting me in every affliction with compassion and grace. Teach me to rely not on myself but on You, the One who raises the dead. Help me to endure with hope and to become a source of comfort and encouragement to others. Use my life, my prayers, and even my suffering for Your glory. In Jesus’ name, amen.
2 Corinthians: Confident and Compelled - A Study on 2 Corinthians - No Empty Word Series by Paula Miles
Paula Miles is wife to Kevin, a ruling elder at Clemson Presbyterian, and mother of Wimberly Johnson (married to Charlie), Janie Gotfredson (married to Duncan), Clary (married to Elli), and Judy Livingston (married to Evan). She is also a grandmother to six precious little ones. Paula grew up in Anderson, SC, and graduated from Clemson University. She has experienced the joy of being a full-time homemaker and public school teacher. Studying and teaching God’s Word is her passion, along with encouraging and equipping women as they walk with Jesus. Since 2014, Paula has served on staff at Clemson Presbyterian as Women’s Ministry Director. She is a conference and retreat speaker, an author of the No Empty Word Bible studies, and serves on the PCA's Discipleship Ministries (CDM) National Women’s Ministry Team as a trainer. She enjoys regular exercise, a good cup of coffee, watching sporting events, and investing in the lives of her family and friends.
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Sharon W. Betters is a mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, pastor’s wife, and cofounder of MARKINC Ministries, where she is the Director of Resource Development. Sharon is the author of several books, including Treasures of Encouragement, Treasures in Darkness, and co-author with Susan Hunt of Aging with Grace. She is the co-host of the Help & Hope podcast and writes Daily Treasure, an online devotional.
Contact Sharon with comments or questions at dailytreasure@markinc.org.
