Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort; Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God. For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also aboundeth by Christ. And whether we be afflicted, it is for your consolation and salvation, which is effectual in the enduring of the same sufferings which we also suffer: or whether we be comforted, it is for your consolation and salvation. (2 Corinthians 1:3-6.)
Why do innocent people suffer? Job, David, Solomon, Habakkuk, and other great men of faith have grappled with this question. By inspiration the apostle Paul gives one answer in the passage quoted above. Paul found in his suffering an opportunity to be comforted by God and to comfort others by pointing them to Him.
Suffering forces one to consider what is truly important in life. One’s priorities get an overhaul during the hard times. Suffering can make a person better. Though it breaks the spirit of some, it brings out the best in those who refuse to quit. Hard times are often the most defining moments in our lives. Through adversity a person becomes stronger.
Through suffering Paul learned to look to Christ and realize that He would see him through the hard times. From prison, Paul wrote, “Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content. I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me” (Philippians 4:11-13). Regardless of what else he was lacking, Paul had Christ. With Christ he could be content.
As the afflictions of the apostle abounded, so his hope for comfort in heaven abounded. Notice some statements from his inspired pen concerning suffering for Christ. “And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together” (Romans 8:17). “If we suffer, we shall also reign with him…” (2 Timothy 2:12). “For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory” (2 Corinthians 4:17).
This comfort found in the hope of heaven comes after we have learned through suffering to turn away from fleeting earthly comforts to look to God. Then we will be able to point others to God, our source of comfort. The effectiveness of Paul’s work for Christ was not in eloquent speech or impressive physical image (2 Corinthians 10:10), but in tenaciously clinging to Christ as his rock and anchor in the storms of life. God’s strength was made perfect in Paul’s weakness (2 Corinthians 12:9); therefore, God was glorified and men followed (1 Corinthians 11:1; John 12:32; 1 Peter 3:15). Perhaps suffering for Christ and finding hope in heaven is what is so often lacking in the presentation of the gospel by Christians today.
