By Pastor Bob DeKlavon
On March 23, I shared about my father dying when I was 14.
That blog was about grieving and the fact that Christians DO grieve—but not like others.
Something else that has stayed with me for over 50 years is a passage of scripture included in a card.
The passage is from 2 Corinthians 1, and I shall use it as the basis of the blogs for the next 3 days.
Here is how the chapter begins:
“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 comfortwith which we ourselves are comforted by God.”
The word “comfort” is used 10 times by Paul in verses 3-7.
Our English word ‘comfort’ comes from a Latin word meaning “strong together.”
The Greek word means “to come alongside and help.”
Believe it or not, the same word is used of The Holy Spirit when He is called ‘the Comforter.”
So, notice the progression Paul offers here:
ONE—God comforts us in whatever afflictions we are suffering.
TWO—we then, take the comfort given to us and share comfort with others going through suffering
Obviously, afflictions come in different shapes and sizes.
Experiencing God’s comfort in affliction DOES allow me to offer SOME comfort to others.
BUT HERE IS A KEY POINT TO BE MADE:
When I experience God’s comfort in a particular affliction—
I can offer much more comfort to those going through the same SPECIFIC thing.
Let me take you back to my father dying.
I had not asked for or planned for or prepared for that in any way—he got leukemia and he died.
So, as a 14-year-old, that became a part of my story—I had no father.
Years later, as a youth pastor, I was leading a discipleship group with 7 young men.
In one of those ‘enlightening’ moments that God gives—I realized that none of these teens had ‘fathers.’
Obviously, they had someone whose name they bore but none had fathers present in their lives.
Some had died, some had left, some were from homes of divorce.
For each one of them, I could honestly share that “I understood.”
Granted, they may not have gone through the same particulars as me—
but I understood what it was like being a teenager without a father present in life.
In a very pointed way—I could share about the comfort God gives in that particular situation.
Being part of a church means, among other things—having people who have known God’s comfort.
Now, as people are hurting all around us—remember what it was like to have others comfort you.
As God brings people to mind—will you reach out and comfort others?
You may not know what to say but remember—just a note with some scripture stuck with a young teen to this day-who knows what your comfort will do?