Day 13: The God of All Comfort

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God. For just as we share abundantly in the sufferings of Christ, so also our comfort abounds through Christ. 
2 Corinthians 1:3-5

Today, we acknowledge that God our Father does not minimize our pain. He does not call us to a shallow comfort, which is conjured up through denial, ignorance, avoidance, or false hope. God - the Father of compassion and of all comfort - calls us to a deep, authentic comfort which can only be found in thoroughly acknowledging our own fears, difficulties, and pain in times of trouble, and then allowing Him to meet us there.
Not only so, but the comfort God gives us is inseparable from the calling to impart that same comfort to others. In the midst of difficult times, it can be natural to minimize people’s pain if we haven’t acknowledged our own, or if something isn’t quite affecting us in the same way it affects others. But the authentic comfort we receive from God always leads us to give that same comfort to others - even if we aren’t experiencing the same pain, discomfort, fears, or difficulty that they are. That is true empathy, and our challenge for you today is to experience God’s comfort fully, and impart that same comfort generously and empathetically.

Prayer Focuses

• God, I pray for the courage to fully experience the fear, pain, and hardship I’ve felt required to avoid.
• Father, I thank You that You desire to comfort me in the midst of my pain instead of minimize it, and that it’s possible to reach authentic comfort and hope.
• Lord, I surrender my fears to You - knowing that You are strong enough to meet me in them.

Action Steps

• Mind Map: A mind map is a diagram used to visually organize information. As The Lord reveals situations, conflicts, or trials that cause fear, take a journal, and create a ‘web’ of all the different associated emotions, triggers, and contributors to any given situation. Ask God to help you discern between the ways you can step into these, and the ways you have to surrender them to Him.
• In today’s passage, Paul calls us to praise God; not in spite of/in avoidance of our troubles, but in the midst of them. Spend some time in prayer and praise, thanking God that He is present with you in the midst of trials.
• Listen to someone today. Truly listen; empathize in their pain, without trying to fix it.