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.
(2 Corinthians 1: 3-4)
Do we realize that the greatest test of our faith comes to us when we ask God the question, “Why?” We do that when are in a frantic and desperate situation when there is absolutely no one else who could possibly help us. Even God seems to be silent to us when we turn to Him is prayer. An example of such a situation is when we experience great suffering and long solitude due to the loss of a loved one or a life partner. It is usually in the full face of affliction that it is hard to see any sense to things that befall us, and we want to question the fairness of a faithful God.
There was a very faithful and loving couple in the church I used to go. Though they do not have any children of their own, they would care for those in church like their own. They were deeply loved and endeared in the church congregation. Then one day, the husband was killed in a traffic accident on his daily bicycle ride to serve in a handicapped children’s home. We all immediately asked God, “Why?” The deceased was one of God’s outstanding and unique servants who cared and loved so many people in the congregation and outside whose lives he had touched. We realized that perhaps, most of all that his wife will be most greatly affected by his sudden death. I was sure she must have asked in the agony of her heart, “Why?” After his demise, we learned that she returned to Canberra to their parent’s home. And yet, a few months later when she returned to church, she manifested a marvelous spirit as she shared with congregation her victory. Instead of our comforting her, she was comforting us!
How does our God of comfort and compassion work in our lives? From our experience in the past, His faithfulness draws us closer to him and thus freeing our burdens as we surrender everything to Him. And it does not stop there as far as we are concerned! God does not comfort us that we may be comforted but that we may be comforters for others. We are to pass along this comfort with which God has comforted us. There are countless opportunities to comfort others besides the loss of a loved one, as there are also numerous distress things that we all go through everyday. When we are a comfort and an encouragement to all people around us, we obey a true and loving God. Without fail, God rewards us by returning the same favour back to us many times over. That is His promise!
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