My husband David wrote this for our church newsletter.
The Bible is full of “throw away lines”, brief comments or asides that are packed full of meaning. I noticed one in last week's passage, 2 Corinthians 1:4.
Paul says that God 'comforts him in all his troubles', a simple remark, but one that carries a lot of weight for Paul because of his history. Later in the letter he lists some of the situations he has been in – thrashed with forty lashes five times; beaten with rods three times; stoned; shipwrecked three times; in danger from all kinds of people and in all kinds of situations and so on... (See 2 Cor 11:23 for the full list). If anyone needed God’s comfort it is Paul and he says he always gets it. What a testimony!
And there’s more to his comment. The comfort he receives has breadth and depth to it.
The comfort Paul speaks of has two sides to it – the word “comfort” is both a picture of soothing and also a picture of strengthening. It’s a combination of a parent gently and soothingly tending to a little “wounded soldier” who’s fallen over but also dusting them off and saying. “OK. Let’s have another go at this”. We often use ‘encourage’ as a synonym for ‘comfort’, meaning that we’re trying to speak courage into someone who’s facing troubles.
The Bayeaux tapestry is a series of woven cartoons of William the Conqueror’s invasion of England in 1066. One panel shows a bishop on his horse poking a big lance into the backs of a line of soldiers getting ready to embark for England. The caption reads, "Bishop .... comforts the troops". That’s obviously not the soothing side of the word!
In all his troubles Paul knows the tender compassion of his loving Father but he also experiences God planting courage and strength into him to get back up and go on. May we, like Paul, receive both the gentle soothing and the strong encouraging and fortifying love of the Father of compassion and God of all comfort.
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