– 6 min read
Introduction
Winter provides a different kind of discomfort from summer. The days are short of light and terribly low in temperature. To survive the elements of the winter season, one must be prepared and equipped. We get our thick winter jackets out of the attic or coat closet, and we find proper headwear and boots to trek through the snow. We make sure we have ample heat in the home to keep our loved ones and us warm. Winter, by its nature, is very uncomfortable, and yet, some of our warmest memories can be found in those cold, dark times. We enjoy the warmth of the fire and the glow of its embers. We delight in the warmth of hot chocolate or hot tea as we drink it. The Christian life is no different. We all will go through an appointed season of great discomfort and even misery, and yet, it is in these moments that we remember the sweetest tenderness of God to us. We all remember the warm comfort we were provided by our Christian brothers and sisters. Instead of finding warm comfort in a fireplace or in clothing or a drink, as believers, we find the warmest comfort from the words we share.
Competence & Commission
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, 4 who comforts us in all our affliction so that we will be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. 5 For just as the sufferings of Christ abound to us, so also our comfort abounds through Christ. 6 But whether we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; or whether we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which is working in your perseverance in the same sufferings which we also suffer. 7 And our hope for you is firmly grounded, knowing that as you are sharers of our sufferings, so also you are sharers of our comfort.
– 2 Corinthians 1:3-7 (LSB)
As Christians, we have been uniquely qualified to comfort each other. We are made competent to comfort each other because we have experienced divine comfort. Because God has comforted us, we now know how to comfort others. Remember that if you are a Christian, you are capable of counseling and comforting people. The same comfort that Paul experienced is what we have experienced. The comfort that we have experienced from God, in Christ Jesus, is shared with others. It is not exclusive to the individual or different from believer to believer, but is the same. There are many comforts available to us in this life, but there is only one that can truly make a difference.
Notice how Paul says that God comforts us “so that we will be able to comfort those who are in any affliction” (v.4a). That means that the comfort we receive from God does not find its conclusion in us; it is meant to extend further. The comfort we receive is meant to be passed on to others. We inherently know this to be true. True comfort can only be experienced in God; therefore, we know when we see someone suffering, we must minister to them “with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God” (v4b). And this, as Paul points out, is only “through Christ” (v.5). So when we comfort each other, it needs to be Christ-centered comfort.
Circumstance & Comfort
Like discerning the seasons of nature, as Christians, we should be attentive to the seasons of those around us. Paul commands us to “Rejoice with those who rejoice; weep with those who weep” (Rom. 12:15), which not only means that we need to always be reading the room, but willing and ready to engage the room. If we are truly going to love our neighbor, love our brother and sister, that means we should be paying attention to them, noticing what they are going through or about to go through. We learn from the parable of The Good Samaritan how we are to pay attention to the conditions and needs of those around us (Luke 10:25-37). If you do not understand one’s circumstances, how will you know that they need comfort, much less be ready to give it? As Christians, we are not to be inward-focused but outward-focused.
Then I looked again at all the acts of oppression which were being done under the sun. And behold, I saw the tears of the oppressed and that they had no one to comfort them; and on the side of their oppressors was power, but they had no one to comfort them. 2 So I lauded the dead who are already dead more than the living who are still living. 3 But better off than both of them is the one who never has been, who has never seen the evil work that is done under the sun.
– Ecclesiastes 4:1-3 (LSB)
Anyone would be driven to the sad state that Solomon was in once they witnessed what he observed here. It is a heartbreaking sight when the oppressed are left alone with no one to comfort them. It is right to say there is an order; that before someone can offer comfort, they must first be aware of the person’s circumstance. Part of this requires interpreting the circumstances of the individual once it is noticed. However, we are not required to run to comfort people every time they are in turmoil. We must acknowledge that they may, in fact, be suffering as a consequence of their sin. God commands us not to comfort those who are under His judgment or punishment (Jer. 16:1-9) so that He may complete His work in spurring them to repent and return to Him (Jer. 16:10-13; 30:1-11).
Choice & Concise
Once we decide to provide comfort and speak to someone, we need to be careful in what we say. We are reminded of Job’s friends, who were terrible at providing comfort. The last thing we want is to be told what Job said to his friends: “I have heard many such things; troublesome comforters are you all” (Job 16:2). It is best practice to be selective in what we say. Odds are, we will be given a small window of opportunity to provide comfort; we then should focus on matters that are important to God. Remember the instruction Peter gives us: that if you speak, speak “as one speaking the oracles of God… so that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belongs the glory and might forever and ever” (1 Peter 4:11). Remember, we are not seeking to comfort ourselves with what we want to talk about, but to comfort the one in need with what God wants us to talk about.
We also want to be concise when we do decide on what we are going to say. There are inevitably going to be areas of a person’s struggles that are alone for God to know. Remember that there is always going to be some mystery in God’s plan for our lives and the seasons we find ourselves in. So, focus upon what is clear and what has been revealed in Scripture. We need not speculate God’s will or play guesswork as to why they are going through this season of suffering. As Peter instructed (above), just speak from God’s Word. There is plenty that God has not revealed to us; as Calvin said, “We must speak where the Scripture speaks; we must keep silent where it is silent.” So be concise in your words of comfort. Observe Paul comforting the Thessalonians.
Now concerning the times and the seasons, brothers, you have no need of anything to be written to you. 2 For you yourselves know full well that the day of the Lord will come just like a thief in the night. 3 While they are saying, “Peace and safety!” then destruction will come upon them suddenly like labor pains upon a woman who is pregnant, and they will never escape. 4 But you, brothers, are not in darkness, that the day would overtake you like a thief, 5 for you are all sons of light and sons of day. We are not of night nor of darkness; 6 so then let us not sleep as others do, but let us be awake and sober. 7 For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, get drunk at night. 8 But since we are of the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet, the hope of salvation. 9 For God has not appointed us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, 10 who died for us, so that whether we are awake or asleep, we will live together with Him. 11 Therefore, comfort one another and build up one another, just as you also are doing.
– 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11 (LSB)
Paul’s words of comfort are not only based on Scripture (Matt. 16:1-3; 24:36-51) but are concise and to the point. Twenty-one chapters in Job are devoted to his friends’ speaking “comfort,” and they were not comforting at all. Job is never comforted by family and friends until the end of the book, and we read of it in only one, single verse (Job 42:11). This may indicate how simple and brief they were in speaking comfort to Job. Let us, too, be concise in our words of comfort.
Conclusion
As Christians, we are not of the world but are still in the world, and this world gives us a variety of seasons to endure. To make matters harder, this world is at odds with Christ and His church (John 15:18-19; 17:14-16). Apart from the ordinary hardships and pains of this fallen world, this means that Christians may find themselves in seasons of great affliction and persecution. Therefore, Christians need to comfort one another and share each other’s burdens (1 Thess. 4:18; Gal. 6:2). In every season of difficulty and hardship one faces, there are opportunities for God to administer fresh and new comfort to them through us, His people. As Luther noted, God hides behind us ordinary people as His mask.[1] Through us, He divinely serves, protects, provides for, and comforts His children in ordinary means. Let us be diligent in being aware of each other, that we may be ready to help. Let us also be familiar with and firm in the word of God. The best comfort for one’s soul is God’s word. Let us remember not to preach our opinions as comfort but speak the very words of God. May we and those we minister to confess to God that “this is my comfort in my affliction, that Your word has revived me” (Psalm 119:50).
Works Cited
[1] Martin Luther, Luther’s Works, Volumes 1–30: Vol. 14 Selected Psalms III, General Editor Jaroslav Pelikan (St. Louis: Concordia, 1955–73), 114-115.