Originally posted: 7/15/2020

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, ⁴ who comforts us in all our affliction so that we will be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God, (1:3-4).

Really, nothing else needs be said. He is the Father of our Savior, Jesus Christ. He is the Father of Mercies. He is the God of All Comfort. And He Comforts us in All our afflictions so that we can share with others All that we have received from Him.

Consider Him, the God of All Comfort

Wherever we find ourselves, He’s been there. He provides the exact Comfort we need in All our afflictions… because He knows.

• He knows what it is to be overlooked.
  • For He grew up before Him like a tender shoot,
    And like a root out of parched ground;
    He has no stately form or majesty
    That we should look upon Him,
    Nor appearance that we should be attracted to Him, (Isaiah 53:2).

• He knows what it is to be despised and forsaken.
  • He was despised and forsaken of men,
    A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief;
    And like one from whom men hide their face
    He was despised, and we did not esteem Him, (Isaiah 53:3).

• He knows what it is to be stricken by grief and sorrow.
  • Surely our griefs He Himself bore,
    And our sorrows He carried;
    Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken,
    Smitten of God, and afflicted, (Isaiah 53:4).

• He knows what it is to be oppressed and afflicted.
  • He was oppressed and He was afflicted,
    Yet He did not open His mouth;
    Like a lamb that is led to slaughter,
    And like a sheep that is silent before its shearers,
    So He did not open His mouth, (Isaiah 53:7).

• He knows what it is to be the target of evil schemes.
  • But the Pharisees went out and conspired against Him, as to how they might destroy Him, (Matthew 12:14).

• He knows what it is to face death.
  • And while they were gathering together in Galilee, Jesus said to them, “The Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men; ²³ and they will kill Him…” (Matthew 17:22-23).

• He knows what it is to anguish in prayer.
  • And He went a little beyond them, and fell on His face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; yet not as I will, but as You will,” (Matthew 26:39).

• He knows what it is to feel alone.
  • And He came to the disciples and found them sleeping, and said to Peter, “So, you men could not keep watch with Me for one hour?”  (Matthew 26:40).

• He knows what it is to be rejected.
  • “But first He must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation,” (Luke 17:25).

• He knows what it is to be mocked and mistreated.
  • “For He will be handed over to the Gentiles, and will be mocked and mistreated and spit upon,” (Luke 18:32).

• He knows what it is to be betrayed.
  • But Jesus said to him, “Judas, are you betraying the Son of Man with a kiss?” (Luke 22:48).

• He knows what it is to be denied.
  • The Lord turned and looked at Peter. And Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how He had told him, “Before a rooster crows today, you will deny Me three times,” (Luke 22:61).

• He knows what it is to be disregarded.
  • But they cried out all together, saying, “Away with this man, and release for us Barabbas!” (Luke 23:18).

• He knows what it is to be deserted.
  • As a result of this many of His disciples withdrew and were not walking with Him anymore, (John 6:66).

• He knows what it is to lose a loved one.
  • So the sisters sent word to Him, saying, “Lord, behold, he whom You love is sick.” … ⁵ Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus... ³² Therefore, when Mary came where Jesus was, she saw Him, and fell at His feet, saying to Him, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.” (John 11:3, 5, 32).

• He knows what it is to weep.
  • When Jesus therefore saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her also weeping, He was deeply moved in spirit and was troubled, ³⁴ and said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to Him, “Lord, come and see.” ³⁵ Jesus wept, (John 11: 33-35).

• He knows what it is to be hated.
  • “If the world hates you, you know that it has hated Me before it hated you,”  (John 15:18).

• He knows what it is to be persecuted.
  • “Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A slave is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you…” (John 15:20).

• He knows what it is to be tempted.
  • For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin, (Hebrews 4:15).

• He knows what it is to suffer.
  • Therefore, since Christ has suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same purpose, because he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, (1 Peter 4:1).

There’s nothing we can experience in this life that He doesn’t know… except sin. And because the Father of Mercies and God of All Comfort knows our weakness and needs, He sent His Sinless Son to provide the salvation, healing, strength and consolation that only He can give.

How do we respond to Him, the God of All Comfort?

If we know His Comfort, if we experience His Mercies in our time of need, it is to be shared. This world is hurting. How might God use us if we approached our suffering with the reality of Him as the God of All Comfort constantly in mind?

What if we looked at our suffering the way Paul did?

But if we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; or if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which is effective in the patient enduring of the same sufferings which we also suffer; ⁷ and our hope for you is firmly grounded, knowing that as you are sharers of our sufferings, so also you are sharers of our comfort, (1:6-7).

In other words, it’s really not about us. Any of us. It’s about Him. If suffering is our lot in this life, it is so we can share the comfort we receive from Him with others.

And in the midst of our suffering, what if we trusted God’s power, His power that can even raise the dead, the way Paul did?

For we do not want you to be unaware, brethren, of our affliction which came to us in Asia, that we were burdened excessively, beyond our strength, so that we despaired even of life; ⁹ indeed, we had the sentence of death within ourselves so that we would not trust in ourselves, but in God who raises the dead; (1:8-9).

What if we lived believing because He can raise the dead, He can raise us in His Comfort in order to share His Comfort with others?

And in the midst of our suffering, what if we still conducted ourselves in holiness, godly sincerity and the grace of God, the way Paul did?

For our proud confidence is this: the testimony of our conscience, that in holiness and godly sincerity, not in fleshly wisdom but in the grace of God, we have conducted ourselves in the world, and especially toward you, (1:12).

Couldn’t our reliance on Him be a source of His Comfort to others as they observe His Mercy extended to us in our time of need?

And in the midst of our suffering, what if our lives were a witness of unwavering faith in His promises, the way Paul’s was?

For as many as are the promises of God, in Him they are yes; therefore also through Him is our Amen to the glory of God through us, (1:20).

If we live like we really believed His Promises, and not only believed them as promises but as fulfilled, wouldn’t others desire to know more about this God of All Comfort?

He is the God of All Comfort; and we are to share what we have received from Him with others. But we cannot give what we do not have. Often, we may not sense His Comfort because we are neglecting His Source of Comfort in His Word.

When my anxious thoughts multiply within me,
Your consolations delight my soul, (Psalm 94:19).

When we find ourselves growing in anxiety and in need of His Comfort, as we seek Him in His Word we can remind Him of every good promise He has made; reminding ourselves at the same time.

Remember the word to Your servant,
In which You have made me hope.
⁵⁰ This is my comfort in my affliction,
That Your word has revived me…
⁵² I have remembered Your ordinances from of old, O Lord,
And comfort myself…
⁷⁶ O may Your lovingkindness comfort me,
According to Your word to Your servant.
⁷⁷ May Your compassion come to me that I may live,
For Your law is my delight, (Psalm 119:49-50, 52, 76-77).

And because He is the God of All Comfort, He has sent His Holy Spirit to bring His Word to our remembrance, that we would live in His Comfort rather than in troubling fear.

“But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you. ²⁷ Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful,” (John 14:26-27).

Today, may we choose to believe His Comfort given in Jesus and promised in His Word.

Oh, Holy Spirit, please teach us that we may grow to glorify the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Please teach us to become a source of His Comfort to others as we share the hope we have received from Him, the God of All Comfort.

 For whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope. ⁵ Now may the God of patience and comfort grant you to be like-minded toward one another, according to Christ Jesus, ⁶ that you may with one mind and one mouth glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, (Romans 15:4-6).

Let’s Grow Together!