Abundant Comfort

 

 "For just as the sufferings of Christ are ours in abundance, so also our comfort is abundant through Christ."

2 Corinthians 1:5

When I first became a Christian, I thought all my troubles would end. In truth, my greatest trials came after I gave my life to Christ. But through each sad event the Lord comforted me. The deeper my sorrow, the greater His solace. A. W. Tozer said, “Before God can use a person greatly, He must allow that person to be hurt deeply.” As much as we hate the process, the truth is we learn more about compassion and how to comfort others when we've been hurt ourselves and have experienced healing through Jesus. I do not believe for a moment that God takes pleasure in our pain, but He being omniscient can see the beauty and grace that will eventually come through our suffering, and can see us one day ministering to others with understanding and mercy. In that He takes great delight. 

In the Valley of Weeping

"Blessed are those whose strength is in you,
       who have set their hearts on pilgrimage.

 As they pass through the Valley of Baca,
       they make it a place of springs;
       the autumn rains also cover it with pools. 

 They go from strength to strength,
till each appears before God in Zion."   
Psalm 84:5-7

When my first husband of 37 years was suddenly called home to the Lord, I thought my broken heart would never mend. Many nights I would come home from work and collapse on the living room floor, the tears flowing down my cheeks and dampening the carpet under me. I was in the "Valley of Baca", what Bible scholars refer to as the "Valley of Weeping". If it were not for the strength I received from God, I surely would have stayed right there on the floor. But I had set my heart on walking with Him through my journey of grief and He was faithful to cover my barren soul with pools of living water. He gave me grace upon grace to rise up in the midst of deep sorrow and find joy. God will continue to take me from strength to strength until one day I appear before Him in Heaven. He will do the same for you.