How does God comfort us?

In my last post we saw that one of God's good purposes in our suffering is so that we might be able to comfort other Christians who are suffering with the same comfort which we received from God (2 Corinthians 1:3-10).  In fact, Paul is so bold as to say about he and his fellow workers in Christ, "If we are afflicted it is for your comfort and salvation and if we are comforted it is for your comfort... (v.6)"  Thus Paul views one of the reasons for his suffering and then the comfort he receives from God in the suffering the comfort and salvation of others.

The question I have and I trust you do as well, is this: how did God comfort Paul?  How exactly does God comfort us in our afflictions?  This is very important for us to understand so that when we are in trouble we will know what we can expect from God in the way of comfort.  It is also important because we will be able to pray more wisely and specifically for others who are in trouble, rather than just praying something generic like: "Lord, please comfort my suffering brother/sister in Christ." 

The passage tells us two ways that God comforts us.  First, God comforts us through the presence and care and verbal encouragement of other believers.  This is a basic assumption of the entire passage.  God expects that Paul is going to be able to comfort the Corinthians, that is why God comforted Paul, so he can by his words in this letter and eventually by his presence with them, bring God's comfort to them.  This point is confirmed because of what Paul says about himself and his traveling companions in 2 Corinthians 7:5-7  & 13.  Look at what he says: "For even when we came into Macedonia, our bodies had no rest, but we were afflicted at every turn--fighting without and fear within.  But God, who comforts the downcast, comforted us by the coming of Titus, and not only by his coming but also by the comfort with which he was comforted by you, as he told us of your longing, your mourning, your zeal for me, so that I rejoiced still more....  Therefore we are comforted. And besides our own comfort, we rejoiced still more at the joy of Titus, because his spirit has been refreshed by you all."

Paul and company came to Macedonia, which is north of Greece, the country in which Corinth is a leading city.  When he came to Macedonia he was being afflicted both externally and internally.  He was embroiled in some kind of controversy with others and he was afflicted with emotional distress, with fear.  What he feared we are not told but all of us know how troubling fear can be.  While in this troubled state the God who comforts the downcast, those in trouble like Paul, comforted Paul by the coming of his fellow worker and friend and apprentice pastor, Titus.  Titus had just been in Corinth.  While Titus was in Corinth, he had been comforted by the Corinthians, his spirit had been refreshed by them.  Thus Paul was comforted by Titus reporting how earnest the Corinthian church was to follow Jesus.  Thus, it would appear that some portion of Paul's fear had to do with the church in Corinth.  But God's comfort came to Paul by the presence and encouraging words of Titus who himself had been comforted/refreshed by the Corinthians.

It is very easy for those who are suffering to wonder where God is at in the midst of the trouble.  We can even complain to the people around us that God doesn't care when the fact is that he is showing his concern through the people he has sent to you.  We who are currently suffering need to receive the presence and encouraging words of others as if God himself were present and speaking to us because he is.  By God's grace I have found great comfort in the presence and words of my wife and children and children-in-law and my extended family and by the many friends who have written and called and texted and emailed.  People have been the means of God's comfort to me in great measure.

The second way God comforts us can be seen in 2 Corinthians 1:9.  Paul writes about the suffering he experienced in Asia (This was prior to going to Macedonia):  "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."  Paul was comforted in the midst of the most extreme suffering, he was certain he was going to die right then, by the promise of God in Christ to raise him from the dead.  God comforted him by the promises of the gospel.  God, by his Spirit, reminded Paul of what Paul knew to be true and this comforted him.  He knew that the trouble he was in was only temporary and could not separate him from the love of God to him in Jesus, nor take away that inheritance which Christ had purchased for him.

God's word and the promises he has made to us in it are the chief source of God's comfort to us.  This is one of the reasons it is so important for us to learn this word, to devote ourselves to reading it, memorizing it, meditating upon it.  You may not ever be troubled in the ways that I and my family have been troubled but you are going to face trouble.  Your ability to stand and to be comforted in the trouble will be directly connected to your knowledge of the promises of God.  I have no question that I would not still be a Christian if not for the fact that I knew God's word and the promises which he has made to us in Christ when the trouble struck.  God's promises are the source of my comfort and hope.