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Comfort...

              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 receive from God. (II Corinthians 1:3-4)

 

            It’s not wise to put too much faith in signs, but the passage above was the one chosen by Biblegateway.com. I was going to choose another verse, but when I got to a Bible study this morning, the study leader took us to this passage. So, I’m taking the ‘hint” even though we’ve talked about comfort fairly recently. The nice thing is that it ties in nicely with what I wrote yesterday about tests.

            Years ago, when I was struggling with lots of stuff, I spent some time grousing at God about why I was going through all this stuff. What possible reason could there be for me to have to suffer? It was really the old question of how a good God could let bad things to happen -  not to a good person but to me. How could I be so bad as to deserve it. Of course, we’re all bad enough to deserve far worse, but the sad reality is that I was never any better at being very bad than I was at being very good.

            But at the time, I got one of those still small voice answers that was an echo of this passage. Some of what I was facing was so that I could help others who were facing something similar. Some of the tests I faced were given so I could help others with their tests.

                Later, I learned that some of what I face is there so others can practice loving, caring, and helping people like me. And, as God comforts (strengthens) us, we are to comfort (strengthen) others. We aren’t made comfy to make us feel good. There’s a scene in Ladyhawk in which Captain Navarre rides up to the running Mouse, grabs him by the shirt and drags him onto his horse without breaking stride. We tend to think of comfort as “being there,” patting a shoulder, holding a hand, or giving a hug, but sometimes, God’s comfort to us – and our comfort to someone else – may need to be a little more boisterous, providing strength rather than soothing pain or fears.

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