How do you understand ‘comfort’? Often we think of comfort as the removal of trouble and any obstacle to the ‘comfortable’ life. But God’s comfort is the strength, grace, and encouragement to endure trials in a way that pleases Him. Do you know what it means to be comforted by the Father of mercies and the God of all comfort? Paul did, as he wrote to suffering Christians in Corinth. When God’s comfort flows like a river, it touches many lives.
“Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and the God of all comfort. He comforts us in all our afflictions so that we may comfort others with the same comfort we receive from Him. As we share abundantly in Christ’s sufferings, we also share abundantly in His comfort. If we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; if we are comforted, it is for your encouragement, helping you patiently endure sufferings. Our hope for you is firm, knowing that as you share in sufferings, you will also share in His comfort.
We do not want you to be unaware, brothers, of the affliction we faced in Asia. We were burdened beyond our strength, despairing of life itself. We felt as if we had received the sentence of death. But this was to teach us not to rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead. He delivered us from deadly peril and will do so again. On Him, we have set our hope. You must help us by prayer so that many will give thanks for the blessings granted through the prayers of many (2 Corinthians 1:2-11).”
The Comfort of God
Just as God comforted Paul in his trials, He also comforted the Corinthians. Paul’s hardships in Asia, documented in Acts 13:2-14:28 and Acts 15:40-21:17 highlight the depth of his suffering, making his testimony of God’s comfort even more powerful. His afflictions served to bring believers the comfort and salvation of the gospel. Today, we are recipients of this same comfort and salvation. We praise God for giving Paul the fortitude to persevere and finish his race as a missionary and evangelist.
Paul repeatedly links comfort to suffering, but often we think comfort means the removal of trouble and anything that hinders the ‘comfortable’ life. Some Christians view affliction as a spirit to be rebuked or be delivered from. But Paul’s testimony of deliverance teaches otherwise—God’s comfort is the strength, grace, and encouragement to endure trials in a way that pleases Him. While God sometimes delivers us from suffering in amazing ways, He often comforts us within it. The more we suffer, the more we realise our weakness and turn to God. As His comfort overflows in us, we can comfort others facing similar troubles. When God’s comfort flows like a river, it brings life to many lives.
The Father of Mercies
Why does God ordain suffering for Paul and his companions, and similarly, for you and me? One of the reasons is so that we may know God’s comfort and mercy, and pass it on to others in distress.
I recall reading this passage as a homesick ten year old in boarding school. For me, the mere description of God as “the Father of mercies and God of all comfort” brought me deep comfort and reassured me of His love. During that season of life, God did not remove me from boarding school, but He gave me the strength to adapt and thrive at school, far from the comforts of home and family. God’s comfort did not mean deliverance from boarding school. Looking back, I see that my merciful Father ordained weakness and suffering in my life at an early age, so that I would learn to trust not in myself but in the God who raises the dead (2 Cor 1:9). Jesus became my closest friend, and His comfort overflowed in my life, pouring out His grace exactly when I needed it.
Our adversities are never wasted. They are given so that our old self may die and the life of Jesus may be manifested in our mortal flesh (2 Cor 4:11). They teach us to depend on Christ. Our suffering draws attention to the only source of true life: Jesus Christ.
Four Responses
Paul offers four responses to suffering that allow God’s comfort to overflow like a river in our lives:
- Share in Christ’s sufferings (2 Cor 1:5).
- Let comfort flow like a river (2 Cor 1:4-7).
- Trust in God who raises the dead (2 Cor 1:9-10).
- Pray for each other (2 Cor 1:10-11).
1. Share in Christ’s Sufferings
Paul urges us to find comfort in sharing Christ’s sufferings. Those in Christ suffer with Him because we are united with Him by faith. This is especially true for those persecuted for their faith—a reality the persecutor-turned-Apostle knew well after encountering Jesus on the road to Damascus (Acts 9:4-5). Jesus identifies intimately and compassionately with His suffering people.
Ironically, while many thousands of Christians are enduring persecution, prosperity churches keep teaching material comfort and perfect health. In Syria, hundreds of believers have recently been massacred under the new Islamist regime. In the Democratic Republic of Congo, seventy Christians were recently found beheaded in a church. Last year alone, 355 Christians were killed in the DRC, and over 10,000 were displaced. Churches have been destroyed, villages abandoned, and there is no accountability for these heinous crimes. Yet amazingly, the DRC is only number 35 on the persecution watch list for 2025. Christians in North Korea, Somalia, Yemen, Libya, Sudan and Nigeria are sharing in Christ’s sufferings most intensely.
Mainstream media hardly covers these stories, but the ascended Christ sees the suffering of these saints. He is not dispassionate about the persecution and suffering of His people (John 15:19-20; Matt 5:10-12; Rev 2:10-11; Matt 10:16-18; 1 Peter 4:12-14; Acts 7:55). Paul reminds us that while these believers are sharing in Christ’s sufferings, they are also sharing in his comfort. Jesus sustains them, as He did Paul and his companions. Persecution is nothing new. It follows a pattern seen in the world since Cain murdered Abel (Gen 4:8; Heb 11:4; 1 John 3:12). Satan opposes all who serve Christ, and suffering for His sake is an honour. Paul warned Timothy, “Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted” (2 Tim 3:12). No Christian is immune from sharing in Christ’s sufferings.
But in suffering, we must remember who we are, whose we are, and who we are becoming like. Jesus is our model, motivation and comfort amidst suffering.
2. Let Comfort Flow Like a River
Every trial equips us to comfort others. When God comforts us, we must not respond by becoming a stagnant, introspective pond but rather we must open the sluice gates to overflow with God’s comfort, touching many lives. Paul teaches that suffering and comfort are interconnected—God brings abundant comfort through trials, not merely relief.
If you are in distress, allow God to comfort you. Then share your testimony, praise God for his work in your life, offer encouragement, prayer and support to other Christians who are facing similar troubles, so that God would also develop the same patient endurance in them that He is producing in you (2 Cor 1:6). That is how we allow God’s comfort to flow like a river in and through us. We don’t wait for the trial to end before we share God’s comfort with other believers.
3. Trust in God Who Raises the Dead
When trials overwhelm us, do we remember that the God who raised Lazarus and Jesus from the dead is our hope? Paul felt “burdened beyond his ability to endure” and despaired of life itself (2 Cor 1:8-9). He was distressed and under great pressure. Yet, this suffering taught him not to rely on himself but on God who raises the dead.
Recognising our powerlessness should drive us to depend on the Lord’s resurrection power. When we remember past deliverances, we are assured that God will continue to rescue us. The greatest deliverance—Christ’s resurrection—guarantees that He will sustain us in suffering.
What God has done before, He will do again. This same power strengthens us to patiently endure and wait on the Lord.
4. Pray for Each Other
Paul requested prayer for himself and his companions as they spread the gospel. Suffering is lonely and isolating, and Paul valued the prayers of fellow believers. “On Him we have set our hope that He will continue to deliver us, as you help us by your prayers. Then many will give thanks on our behalf for the gracious favour granted in answer to the prayers of many” (2 Cor 1:11).
Do you admit your struggles to others and ask for prayer? Do you intercede for suffering brothers and sisters? Do you thank God when prayers are answered?
I know first-hand what a lifeline intercessory prayer is. I am blessed to be part of a group of women who have studied the Bible and prayed together for 29 years. Whenever one of us faces trouble, there is an army of women that arrives at the door ready to pray. Many times a sister has “despaired even of life”, and through prayer we have experienced God’s rivers of comfort and gracious favour in remarkable ways.
As we pray and worship together; sing hymns and songs; speak apt words from Scripture, the suffering believer receives strength, courage, and endurance. Sometimes we have witnessed supernatural deliverance in answer to prayer. Whether through a life group, a Whatsapp group or a family, when we take the time to pray for each other, we become a flowing river of God’s comfort and hope to one another.
I leave you with these words from Puritan Thomas Brooks, which I pray will comfort anyone sharing in Christ’s sufferings today:
“All the troubles, afflictions, and persecutions that attend holiness can never reach a Christian’s soul, they can never diminish a Christian’s treasure; they reach the shell, not the kernel; the case, not the jewel; the outbuilding, not the palace… The most fiery trials and persecutions can never deprive a Christian of the special presence of God, nor the light of His countenance, nor the testimony of a good conscience, nor the joys of the Spirit, nor the pardon of sin, nor of fellowship with Christ, nor of the exercise of grace, nor the hopes of glory.”
Prayer (adapted from “The Valley of Vision.”)
O God of the Highest Heaven, Your presence is to me a treasure of unending peace; No provocation can part me from your sympathy, for you have drawn me with cords of love, and you forgive me daily, hourly. Help me then to walk worthy of your love, of my hopes, and my vocation. Keep me, for I cannot keep myself; Protect me that no evil befall me; Let me lay aside every sin admired of many; Help me to walk by your side, lean on your arm, converse with you, that henceforth I may be salt of the earth and a blessing to all. Amen.
