When life is the darkest, God comforts us.
2 Corinthians 1:4, has come across my path three times in the past week. I read it in two different blogs and then it showed up in my Facebook news feed. I knew God was trying to communicate something to me, but I wasn’t sure what, so I prayed and waited.
My hubby and I met our pastor for coffee and he was talking with us about all of the pain in the world around us and how very important he felt that prayer was in stemming the tide. He then shared with us that he was going to meet with a woman the next day who was going through a terrible divorce. She was very hurt and angry and he asked us to pray that God would give him the wisdom to say the right words to comfort her and that He would give her heart the ability to hear them.
I prayed for the meeting the next day and that verse kept popping into my mind. ” He comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others. When they are troubled, we will be able to give them the same comfort God has given us.” 2 Corinthians 1:4
I found myself sending him an e-mail telling him that I too, had been divorced and although it had been close to twenty years ago, it was very definitely rock bottom for me. I told him it was a very dark and painful time and I sometimes wondered if I would survive it. But, even in all of that darkness, there was redemption and grace and forgiveness and hope.
In a moment of despair, in a terrible thunderstorm which seemed to mirror my own life at the time, I found my way back to God. Right after that storm, I wrote my first piece on encouragement. The encouragement had come from God and I had to put it on paper to share later. It would be many years before I was writing encouragement daily, but that little piece was a start that lead to other little pieces along the way. It was a beginning to a lifelong journey of watching for God in the world around me.
So, I found myself telling my pastor to please feel free to give this woman my phone number if he thought she might like to have coffee and talk. It wasn’t because I had any particular desire to share the mistakes of my past with a stranger, but it was because in my darkest moments, God comforted me and began something new in me. He can do the same for this woman and he can do the same for you.
It’s the paying it forward of spirituality. He comforts us so we can comfort others. He shows us forgiveness and grace and expects us to do the same. He offers hope. When times are the darkest, He holds us the closest and when we come out on the other side, a little stronger, and a little braver, He wants us to show others the same kind of love, His love.
Maybe we should keep our eyes open for opportunities to offer comfort to others who find themselves in situations that we have personally experienced. I think that would make God proud.
Have an awesome day!
Wendy 🙂