God Is Our Comfort
Because [Jesus] himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.
Hebrews 2:18 NIV
Once, when I was in my latter teens, I was in love with a girl. It might have been puppy love, but it was real to me, the “puppy”! We became tentatively engaged to be married, even though we were both much too young. However, she was torn in her heart and felt that the Lord was leading her to another young man who was one of my best friends, and who was already an experienced young clergyman. I suffered a broken heart, and I remember going to a clergyman friend of mine to seek his help. He turned me to 2 Corinthians 1:3–4, 6:
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 have received from God . . . if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you patient endurance of the same sufferings we suffer.
From those words of the apostle I gained comfort for myself in my personal trouble, just as many others have also done. But there is more to it than that. This passage from Paul suggests a new insight into suffering. Briefly put, it is this: not only are we comforted in our trials, but our trials can equip us to comfort others.
It is an undeniable fact that usually it is those who have suffered most who are best able to comfort others who are passing through suffering. I know of pastors whose ministries have been enriched by suffering. Through their trials they have learned to “live through” the difficulties of the people in their parish. They are able to empathize as well as sympathize with the afflictions of others because of what they have experienced in their own lives.
Our sufferings may be rough and hard to bear, but they teach us lessons which in turn equip and enable us to help others. Our attitude toward suffering should not be “Grit your teeth and bear it,” hoping it will pass as quickly as possible. Rather, our goal should be to learn all we can from what we are called upon to endure, so that we can fulfill a ministry of comfort—as Jesus did. “Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted” (Hebrews 2:18 NIV). The sufferer becomes the comforter or helper in the service of the Lord.
By the way, by “enduring” suffering, God led me to my wonderful wife, Ruth, who was His intended one for me.
Our Father and our God, I turn to You in my pain and anguish. Give me strength to bear my affliction, and from my problems let me learn joy to share with others. Teach me to comfort hurting people with the comfort You so often show to me. Thank You for sending the Comforter. In Christ. Amen.
Billy Graham, Unto the Hills: A Daily Devotional (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2010.