Comfort

 DEVOTION

THE 2^ND LETTER TO THE CORINTHIANS

COMFORT

2 Cor 7:5-7

5 For when we came into Macedonia, this body of ours had no rest, but we were harassed at every turn — conflicts on the outside, fears within. 6 But God, who comforts the downcast, comforted us by the coming of Titus, 7 and not only by his coming but also by the comfort you had given him. He told us about your longing for me, your deep sorrow, your ardent concern for me, so that my joy was greater than ever.

NIV

This is certainly a personal portion of this letter and maybe there is a reference to whatever person was causing disruption among the Corinthian church. What we have to observe here, is whether there is any application that we could make to current lives within today's church, which includes our lives. The one glaring truth is that God comforts the downcast and in the case of Paul it was by the arrival of Titus who was also a recipient of the comfort the church gave him. We also wonder if comfort has any relationship to compassion. Although we can think of comfort as traveling in comfort or having very comfortable accommodations, the meaning here is more of easing or alleviation of a person’s feelings of grief and distress.  So then is the comfort of God expressed through humans comforting someone? When we simply comfort a fellow believer, or for that matter, an unbeliever, is it an act of God? Are we capable of expressing comfort in the flesh alone? Might be the case, as it appears that unbelievers are able to exhibit comfort for someone in their hour of sorrow, such as the loss of a loved one. However, there has to be some difference between human and divine comfort, because Paul makes it clear that God comforts the downcast. He certainly can us a person to accomplish his comforting, and in the case with Paul, it was Titus. The point here is that we need to be open to the Spirit and be ready to express his comfort to those who are distressed, experiencing certain conflicts on the outside and fears within. On the other hand, we are grateful that when we are having difficult times God is there to comfort us, and perhaps through a fellow believer. God promised us that he would provide all our needs and comfort is one of them. In a world full of chaos and turmoil, if we pay too much attention to this chaos we can become overwhelmed and even distressed. However, when we turn our attention to God, we find comfort. It is interesting this Greek word translated as comfort is from the same root word used to describe the comforter, the Holy Spirit, the “paracleat”. Perhaps there is a real difference between what humans consider comfort, then when God comforts. When God comforts us there is a deep sense of calm that floods our soul, something that no human can cause, although they may try. The truth here is that when we are in need of some comfort, let us trust the Lord, for he has already sent us the comforter.