Agents of His Comfort in the Lives of Others

God causes us to long for and experience His comfort so that we would be ready to be agents of his comfort in the lives of others.

[00:00:01] Good morning, Calvary. If you guys have your Bibles, open up to II Corinthians 1:3-11. We’ll be there this morning. As you’re turning there, I’d like to share with you a story of my favorite Christian poets. A lady by the name of Annie Flint Johnson lived in 1866 to 1932. Annie Flint Johnson was no stranger to suffering. Both of her parents died early in childhood. Her adoptive family taught her the scriptures, taught her to read, to write, to create music, and she grew to love them all. But even then, Annie’s childhood dream of becoming a concert pianist was quickly dissolved when she developed rheumatoid arthritis in her early 20s. The arthritis was so severe that by Annie’s 30th birthday, she could no longer walk and was restricted to a wheelchair, her hands disfigured, her body twisted. She struggled with sleep because of the extreme discomfort in her joints. Though her physical body was breaking down with each passing year, her faith in Christ was powerfully formed through this agony and suffering that she encountered, despite the intense pain it brought to her contorted fingers, Annie became a prolific writer and poet. In lyric and prose she regularly reflected upon God’s word, his promises, and his abiding presence in her life. Poetry born of pain. People marveled that such beautiful lyrics could be composed by hands so compromised by constant pain. And this pain, Annie wrote of the goodness of God. And this morning I’d like to share one of her poems with you, entitled What God hath Promised. God hath not promised skies always blue flower strewn pathways all our lives through. God hath not promised some without pain, joy without sorrow and peace without pain. God hath not promise we shall know not toil in temptation, trouble and woe. He hath not told us we shall not bear many a burden, many a care. God hath not promised smooth roads and wide, swift easy travel needing no guide. Never a mountain rocky and steep. Never a river turbid and deep. But God hath promised strength for the day. Rest for the labor. Light for the way. Grace for the trials. Help from above. Unfailing sympathy. Undying love. If you have a chance to read her poetry, I would recommend it. It’s convicting and it’s good. It’s like chicken noodle soup for the soul, only better. But even Annie, she was very honest in her poetry. She didn’t hide the emotions of the pain which she wrote about it and trusted God in it. On her poetry, a contemporary writer of hers wrote, Annie was in a condition where she was compelled to be dependent upon the care of others, and after years she always stated that her poems were born of the need of others, and not from her own need.

[00:03:18] But one knows full well that she never could have written, as she did, for the comfort and help of thousands of others, if she had not had the background of facing those very crises in her life. In our study of our passage today, we’ll see that God causes us to long for and experience his comfort in our suffering so that we will share his comfort in the lives of other people around us. Our text today will show us three things: the person of our comfort, the purpose of our comfort, and his power in our comfort. Let’s read now from II Corinthians 1:3-11. 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 afflictions, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. For as we share abundantly in Christ’s sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too. If we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation. And if we are comforted, it is for your comfort which you experience when you patiently endure the same sufferings that we suffer. Our hope for you is unshaken, for we know that as you share in our sufferings, you will also share in our comfort. For we do not want you to be unaware, brothers of the affliction we experienced in Asia.

[00:04:45] For we are so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself. Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves, but on God who raises the dead. He delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. On him we have set our hope that he will deliver us again. You must also help us by prayer, so that many will give thanks on our behalf for the blessing granted to us through the prayers of many. Church let’s pray together. Father, in this room is a magnitude of suffering both past, current and even yet to come. God, you are not overwhelmed. You don’t grow weary from lifting our burdens, from meeting our needs, from the balance of justice and wrath and mercy and love. God, you see it all. And we know you’re good. We know you are just. But we also know God that you’re a God of comfort and a father of mercies. Father, would you teach us not to run to things of this world or our own strength. But as even as Paul prayed that you bring us to the end of ourselves, that we would learn to rely on you and you alone. Give us your wisdom this morning through your spirit in Jesus’ name. Amen. Suffering is an inescapable reality in a fallen and evil world.

[00:06:17] The subject of human suffering is not easy to understand, for there are mysteries to the working of which God allows certain things to happen that we’ll never grasp on this side of heaven. Sometimes we suffer because of our own sin and rebellion. Like Jonah. Sometimes we suffer to keep us from sinning like Paul received a messenger of Satan, a thorn in his flesh and later on in chapter 12, he reveals that. Suffering can perfect our character and confirm our faith. But before we get to the reason in this text for our suffering, we must first meet the source of our comfort. Or should I say the person of our comfort? In verse three we meet him. It says, blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the father of mercies and God of all comfort. If anyone knew suffering – hard, painful suffering, it was Paul. When Paul first became a follower of Jesus Christ, he met a man named Ananias. And Ananias shared this with him. He said, Paul, I will show you how much you will suffer for God’s name for his sake. Acts 9:16. Right from the beginning, Paul was destined for a life of suffering. Later on, Paul would disclose some of what he went through in Corinthians 11:20-28 says this, “with far greater labors, far more imprisonments, with countless beatings, and often near death. Five times I received at the hands of the Jews, the 40 lashes less one.

[00:07:50] Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, a night and a day I was adrift at sea. On frequent journeys. In danger from rivers. Danger from robbers. Danger from my own people. Danger from the Gentiles. Dangers in the city. Dangers in the wilderness. Danger at sea. Danger from false brothers, in toil and hardships through many a sleepless nights in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure. And apart from all other things. There is a daily pressure on me for my anxiety, for all the churches.” Can you guys relate to any of that? Have you felt that way? Have you dived into the Psalms in the depths of pain, suffering, lamentations, isolation, loneliness there? Then you’re in good hands because the saints before us have experienced similar things. What was Paul’s secret when experiencing pressure in these afflictions? His secret was God. When you find yourself discouraged and ready to quit, get your attention off yourself and focus on him. For God is the father of all mercies and the God of all comfort. To the Jewish people, the phrase “father of” means “originator of.” As Satan is the father of lies because lies originate from him, God is the father of all mercies, because all mercies originate with him and can be secured only by him. Our hope is grounded in the very nature of God Himself.

[00:09:23] This isn’t just what God does. It’s who he is. The father does not have mercy. The father is mercy. He’s the father of all mercies. Plural. The title “Father of Mercies” is not only for our comfort, it’s also for our transformation. When God extends mercy to us. It’s not just this nice gesture. It’s a powerful force that radically changes our disposition. If I can elaborate, I have children and they’re rascals sometimes. The best time. Here’s here’s a this is a really good trick for you. I’m sorry. Parents. I’m going to give a little trick my kids did to me once. The best time to confess your sins is at church, right? In between services are right before worship starts. One of my kids who did something they knew they should not have done, right before I went to go teach Sunday school, confess something to me, right? Can you imagine if you’re like Jamie’s calling like, let’s stand and worship, we’re going to sing amazing Grace. And then your son leans over, I left the toilet seat open. I’m sorry. Amazing grace. How sweet the sound. I almost gave it away. One of my kids, who should remain nameless, came to me and said, dad, I did something. I told you I wouldn’t do. This particular child knew they were in trouble. They knew they deserved the consequences. They were anticipating my righteous indignation, and now I was ready to serve it.

[00:11:08] And instead, when you extend mercy, something snaps inside them. Instead of pointing my finger to my child, I wrap my arms around them and the tears began to fall. So, I mean, something snapped inside this loving child of mine. God’s mercies begin to realign your heart to his when you encounter his merciful embrace. Paul reminds us that God is the father of all comfort, all comfort. The word for comfort is repeated ten times in our text. This is a real comfort. This is not an escapism. This is not some kind of band aid. This is not some kind of quick fix. Right? This is real, genuine. Get down to it. The heart of the matter comfort. But we must not think of comfort in terms of sympathy here, because sympathy can weaken us. Instead, you should think of strengthening. God does not pat us on the head and give us a piece of candy or a toy to distract us and say, go on your way now. Deal with your troubles. God puts strength into our hearts so we can face our trials and triumph over them. Our English word for comfort actually comes from two Latin words, which means strength with or with strength. The Greek word here for comfort is similar meaning. It means to come alongside and help. It’s also the same exact word where we derive the Holy Spirit from, and he’s known as our comforter.

[00:12:38] You see, God strengthens us by His Word and through His Spirit. His Holy Spirit that would never leave us, but comes alongside us and strengthens and consoles us in our immediate need for help. Always, ever present right there beside you, ready to engage. When you find yourself discouraged because of difficulties, it’s easy to look at yourself or to focus on the problems around you. But the first step, my friends, is to go to the person who is the source of all comfort. In verses four through seven, Paul’s focus shifts from the person of our comfort to the purpose of our comfort. In verses four through seven, there’s two words that he repeats over and over again, affliction and suffering. Affliction and suffering. And what I love about Scripture is it doesn’t shy away from the hard reality that we live in, the brokenness, the pain that we’re all suffering, that we all go through, that we all experience. The word affliction literally means you’re being squeezed, that you’re under pressure. Affliction is pressure. Extreme pressure in life. It’s a trouble that just weighs on you, constrains and constricts. Suffering literally means that it hurts. It hurts and you’re being squeezed. You’re under extreme pain and pressure. This is what Paul himself is experiencing in verse eight when he says, for we are utterly burdened beyond our strength, that we despaired of life itself. He called it a death sentence in the next verse.

[00:14:15] So Paul is speaking from experience here. He’s not just on some high platitude or platform, he’s actually speaking from the depths of the pain he’s experiencing in his life. We were amid deadly peril. We were in such danger we thought we were going to die. It’s what we read about Paul. It was in this state of affliction that God’s comfort sustained and strengthened Paul. And here’s this astonishing promise in verse four, the purpose of our suffering. So that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. Paul is saying here, the way to get wise counsel, for you to become a wise counselor that brings comfort and relief to the hurting and suffering around you, is by going through affliction and suffering yourself. Going through suffering and affliction yourself. As a dad, this resonates with me. If I need to go through a little affliction and suffering so that my kids, my wife, I’m refined and they benefit, praise God. Bring it on. It’s through suffering that you learn how to effectively help another person. The problem is that we don’t naturally have this desire to make our personal sacrifices for the sake of ministry to others, but we need this training. God uses suffering to make us both willing and ready to be part of what he’s doing in the lives of others. God has to work in us before he can work through us.

[00:15:57] And it’s so much easier to grow in knowledge than it is to grow in grace. Learning God’s truth and getting into our heads is one thing, but living God’s truth and getting into our character is something altogether different. If I asked you guys, hey, who wants to take a minivan ride with a bunch of toddlers? Who would say, yes, let’s go right now, right? My kids are older, my youngest, they’re in high school and I forgot, I blacked out these memories of toddler minivan days. And my wife and I, we decided to help out a friend of ours who was going to pick up her kids, three and like, two something, I don’t know, they were really young. And then my first picture of them is they’re both screaming and yelling and just like boogers and snot is coming down, right? And then she’s like, well, I have to drive. And my wife’s like, well, I’ll be your co-pilot. I’m like, I got it. I’ll go in the back. Right? And I just wanted to read my sports or something on my phone. And as soon as that booger landed on there, I knew that it was time to put that away. And it was in stereo. The amounts of yelling and screaming, the suffering, the pressure, the constraint. And like any good dad, I bribed them with candy. Right? So I busted out the Skittles and I said, what color? And I just, I the whole ride there, we sang animal noises, games.

[00:17:33] I made up games. And they went from screaming and yelling and boogers to, like, laughing and boogers. What I saw really blessed me. I saw mom driving. And can you imagine being a mom by yourself? Some of you guys are like, yes, I can. In a van with toddlers who do nothing but scream the whole ride there. What I saw on her face was comfort, consolation, a strengthening. I scored some good points with that friend that day, right? And she was encouraged because she had a peaceful ride home versus a ride full of kids who were tearing everything apart. And it was great. I would do it again. It’s easy to grow in knowledge. Oh, it’s so much harder growing in grace. God put young Joseph through 13 years of tribulation before he made him second in command over all of Egypt. Sold into slavery by his brothers. This is what he said to them after his father passed away. And his brothers, we read earlier, were scared Joseph’s going to get his revenge now his pound of flesh is coming. Dad’s gone. There goes our security blanket. And this is what Joseph’s response was to them. “As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good to bring about that many people should be kept alive as they are today.

[00:19:03] So do not fear. I will provide for you and your little ones” in their minivans. Thus, he comforted them and spoke kindly to them. Out of his pain and out of his suffering he comforted them. In times of suffering most of us are prone to think only of ourselves. I mean, that’s like everybody. I’m like, yeah, I don’t think of any of you guys when I’m suffering, right? To be honest here. But we forget that we’re not meant to be reservoirs instead of channels of God’s comfort. Yet one reason for trials is so that we might learn to be channels of blessing, to comfort and encourage others around us. This brings a redemptive purpose in our suffering. Paul experienced trouble not as a punishment for what he had done. A lot of times we confuse that. But as preparation for something he was yet going to do, namely minister to others in need. As a pastor, we see some tough situations. There are certain things here I will never get to experience because of my situation or because of limitations. But to bring somebody else along into that room of counseling or encouragement, or just brokenness that is experienced the same pain that you have, it’s a game changer. To have somebody who you knew walked down that same path, experienced the same pain, and can provide the strengthening and encouragement you need better than any pastor.

[00:20:39] God causes us to long for and experience his comfort, so that we will be ready to be agents of his comfort in the lives of others. This means that our suffering has ministry in view. Your hardships, they qualify you for the most wonderful part to share the truth that God’s beauty, his hope, comfort, joy, the security that you’ve received can be shared with others around you. In verses nine through 11 we learn of his power in our comfort. In verse nine, there’s this phrase, but that was to make us. It captures Paul’s sense that our suffering is fundamentally meaningful. Our suffering is purposive or it’s goal oriented. You know, in the midst of suffering, it’s not always when those kids are screaming in the minivan. I wasn’t I was like, hey, I hope this is blessing mom. I was just trying to get them to stop because I wanted them to stop. But over time, there’s a purposeful goodness that comes from the furnace of affliction. And I say this to you, you may be thinking of some suffering that’s going on currently in your life. Maybe something that’s happened in your distant past that still has wounds that you bear on your soul, and you’re thinking, how can this be? How can this be redemptive? This suffering seems pointless. It seems destructive. This is just one big wreckage that’s left me feeling hopeless, broken and alone.

[00:22:15] How could there be anything that is constructive in what have I experienced in this suffering? Paul’s situation was terrible. He was in the peril of death, it says. And that’s no good in any way, shape or form. But there was some sense that something bigger was going on, that God was in it, in his suffering. That he was up to something, something that is good. The second half of verse nine tells us what God was after in Paul’s life and what he’s after in your life. But that was to make us not rely on ourselves, but on the God who raises the dead. In the face of adversity, affliction, and suffering, the instinct of our fallen nature is to trust me. The instinct of your fallen nature your “go to” is not God always. It’s what can I do? What’s my strength? How can I get around this? Paul is addressing the fundamental trust you and I have in ourselves. When the heat gets turned up, what rules you? What do you put your trust in? Who do you turn to for help? What will you worship? Allow me to give you an example. Think of the experience of anxiety. We all have anxiety. Paul mentioned the anxiety here. Not all anxiety is bad, but anxiety is often linked with a failure of our attempts to control the world around us. The world is out of control.

[00:23:48] You become anxious. Our health is out of control. Our relationships are out of control. Your bank account is out of control. Your kids are out of control. We become anxious. Think of how what’s driving within that anxiety at some level, is your desire to control the outcome. There’s a shift in verse nine of fundamental trust in myself to trust God in ____. I left this blank for you guys and for me. When you’re underneath the pressures and the afflictions of suffering in your life, when things get real, where do you put your trust in? Who do you run to? What’s your source of comfort? Do you hide in a book? In a video game? In shopping? Do you deny it or do other things? In Isaiah, the verse we read, it talked about the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, that he served to his people in order that they would reveal their idols and defile them. And the pain and the trials, the pressures of life. What idol have you resurrected in his rightful place? For me? I’ll answer the question. I have a strong desire to be right, and my wife knows that. And it’s not good. It can’t be good when it comes to things that are right and true, and where you got to, like, plant your flag on something that’s good and just. When I think I’m right and I’m wrong, that’s bad, right? And then it really came to light in a trial that God put me through.

[00:25:42] And I believe he did put me through it. I don’t believe that there’s accidents, but only divine appointments with him where I was Unable to vindicate myself. Unable to get an audience to discuss the honor. My honor that I felt was being attacked. I was trying to do everything I could for a chance to defend myself, to no avail. And it drove me up the wall. I don’t like being separated from people, so people oriented. If we have a conflict, I want to address it. I want to have a healthy relationship with you. I married an introvert and I’m working on that still, right? I read I Peter 2:20-23, and it cut me to the quick. That’s what it says. “For what credit is it if when you sin and are beaten for it, you endure? But if when you do good and suffer for it, you endure. This is a gracious thing in the sight of God. For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example so that you might follow in his steps. He committed no sin. Neither was deceit found in his mouth. When he was reviled, he did not revile in return. When he suffered, he did not threaten but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly.”

[00:27:06] And this refining trial that God was bringing me through. His goal was to bring me to the end of myself. In verse nine, he brought Paul to a place where he could not rely on his own self, but only on God. God brought me to a place I could not deliver myself from, or my own strength would fail. Where I had to surrender my lust for vindication to the God of all comforts, entrusting myself to him who judges justly. After reading this passage, I was cut to the heart. I had to lay down my idol of trust. My trust in myself for vindication, to follow in Christ’s Christ footsteps. How could I not follow Christ, who was perfect, blameless, wrongly accused? And he trusted himself to God, who judges justly. Are you like me? Maybe right now you’re stuck in a place between an argument. Thanksgiving’s coming up and you’re going to see this person. Perfect timing. Right? And you’re avoiding this person. You don’t want to talk to them. You can’t be nice. You can’t be gracious. Maybe you need to lay down your right to be right. Maybe you need to go to God who judges justly and trust him that it’s in his hands. There’s also something else that Paul points out in verse ten. Of all the things that Paul could have said about God, he picks out the one thing that if you were facing a death sentence like Paul felt he was, it’s the one thing that you need to know most is that he is a God who raises the dead. When God gives you consolation or comfort or strengthening, it’s not just some random oh, just trust God and be okay. The promise here that Paul is reminding us of is God’s mercies meets our exact needs. You’re facing a death sentence, trust in the God who raises the dead. You’ve been wrongly accused, trust the God who judges justly. And be more concerned about what he says than others. Financial struggles. Trust the God who owns the cattle on a thousand hills. The last two verses, verse ten, Paul was confident that God not only had delivered him in the past, but also would deliver him in the future, because God is faithful. And the verse 11 is a beautiful verse that Paul was asking his brothers and sisters in Christ for help, for their prayer. That we are in this together. That this is a common struggle that everyone in the church faces and goes through. We are helping one another. We’re bearing each other’s burdens. When I comfort you, it’s like I’m comforting myself. Notice how this passage ends. Like Paul, God will give us stories to tell. Stories of how God met us in our darkest moments of panic and doom. If you want to hear some good stories, I had a professor once

[00:30:19] tell me this. Find the gray-haired saints in your church and ask them how God has comforted them in their lives, and just sit back and listen. Take him out to coffee. Buy him lunch. It’s worth it. He gives us stories to tell about how he lifts us up, gives us hope, brings us peace to our hearts and meets our needs. We tell others our stories, not to point to us, but to point to God so that those to whom we minister will find their comfort in him as well. I started with a poem from Annie Flint Johnson, and I’ll leave you with one about the grace of God that never runs out. She wrote this. He giveth more grace. When the burdens grow greater, he sendeth more strength when the labors increase. To added afflictions, he added his mercy. To multiple trials, his multiplied peace. When we’ve exhausted our store of endurance, when our strength has failed, ere the day is half done, when we have reached the end of our hoarded resources, our father’s full giving is only begun. Fear not that your need shall exceed his provision. Our God ever yearns his resources to share. Lean hard on the arm everlasting availing. The father, both you and your load will bear. His love has no limits. His grace has no measure. His power, no boundary known onto men. For out of the out of his infinite riches in Jesus, he giveth and giveth again. Let’s pray.