One of the hardest things to do is to keep our focus on God when we are in distress. Sometimes the pain is so intense that all we can think about is pain. If you have been abandoned by someone you love, your focus is on your current circumstances. When we are afflicted, we tend to focus on ourselves, and this makes it hard to see past our problems to find God in our situation. If we are to be successful in maneuvering through our problems, we must keep our focus on the one who is able to help us and that is God.
In II Corinthians 1:3, Paul addresses God who is the “Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.” He is the “Father of mercies and the God of all comfort.” At this time in his life, Paul had already suffered greatly for his faith. He knew what it meant to be comforted. In verse 4, he tells us that it was God who comforted him and comforts us in our time of trouble. The purpose of Christ comforting us is so that we can comfort others who are suffering also. He is speaking from personal experience and is teaching them to learn from him and repeat the process.
II Corinthians 1:3-4 “Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort, Who comforted 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.”
In verse 5, Paul reminds us that we will suffer much as Christ did for us. He suffered ridicule, rejection, physical torture, and abandonment by those He had loved and taught. He suffered the weight of our sins when He was sinless. However, he teaches us that if we suffer much, comfort will also abound. Paul’s focus was not on his own sufferings, but on using them to conform him to Christ. He earnestly desired to be like Jesus. In verse 6, Paul tells the Corinthian church that his sufferings were to teach them to be conformed to the image of Christ. In verse 7 it is evident these Christians had suffered to some measure. They were “partakers,” and they too would be comforted, or drawn near to Christ. Paul tells them his hope for them is steadfast, meaning he is confident they will endure, and their salvation will be secure.
II Corinthians 1:5-7 “For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also abounded 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. And our hope of you is steadfast, knowing, that as ye are partakers of the sufferings, so shall ye be also of the consolation.
He wants them to understand their trust was in God to deliver them from great trials. He encourages them by acknowledging the reason they were spared and not martyred. The deliverance was by God because of the people’s prayers. He quickly turns their focus back to God as the one to be thanked for their deliverance from certain trials. Since many prayed, many needed to give thanks to God.
II Corinthians 1:8-11 “For we would not, brethren, have you ignorant of our trouble which came to us in Asia, that we were pressed out of measure, above strength, insomuch that we despaired even of life: But we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God which raised the dead: Who delivered us from so great a death, and doth deliver: in whom we trust that he will yet deliver us; Ye also helping together by prayer for us, that for the gift bestowed upon us by the means of many persons thanks may be given by many on our behalf.”
Most who call themselves Christians will never suffer enough for Christ’s sake to even identify them as His follower. We in the United States have not been threatened with our lives because we believe in Jesus. No one is holding a gun to our head and demanding we denounce our faith. I am not sure this blessing is what is best for us. This kind of blessing can cause us to feel we deserve to avoid suffering. It can cause us to become apathetic and Satan can lure us into a state of business that is a substitute for true commitment to Christ. We need to be aware of the danger of apathy and ingratitude. We are to always keep our focus on God and acknowledge the blessings of safety and the provisions He has given us. We are to never take all that we have in Him for granted. Most of all we are to examine our lives and push forward to tell others about Him. Maybe we are not persecuted because we are not a threat to Satan. We are living in our own world and that is just the way we like it. Our faith does not push us to speak up when others are doing wrong. It is not strong enough to overcome the fear of rejection when we witness to others. Our love for Christ is not deep enough to cause us to go out of our way to share His love so that others may know Him. These actions and thoughts are opposite of what Paul was expressing as the role of a follower of Christ. We need to live so focused on Christ that whatever happens in our lives, is accepted well because of who we do it for. We need to say as Paul in Romans 8:18 “For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us”
With our focus on Jesus, we need to take joy in the distress that comes our way. This joy is not the world’s idea of joy, but a confident feeling that we are doing what pleases the Master and all is well. We need to run our race not inviting trials, but being thankful that God would choose to use us for His glory. We are to look to Jesus who is the author and finisher of our faith.
Hebrews 12:1-2 ” Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.”
