Lesson 3: Purpose of suffering - comfort
2 Corinthians 1:7 (ESV) - www.bible.com/bible/59/2cor.1
7 Our hope for you is unshaken, for we know that as you share in our sufferings, you will also share in our comfort.

Is it hard to imagine how suffering can have a purpose? Sometimes it is, because humanly speaking there seems to be no way there could be purpose for some of our suffering. And that may be especially true for suffering from things for which there is no earthly cure.

In the verse above we find a wonderful purpose for suffering – for the purpose of sharing.

Think about a time when you accomplished something great that made you want to dance and shout for joy, but there was no one around with whom you could share that victory, and soon your excitement died away. If only there had been someone else to help you celebrate – but it would need to be someone who truly understood what you had accomplished – your joy would have continued for hours or days rather than just minutes. Maybe it was a class exam that was very difficult, and you passed; maybe it was finding that solution to a difficult problem you had tried long to solve; maybe it was qualifying to buy a home; maybe it was the birth of a long-awaited child – whatever it was, sharing it would have been so much better than celebrating alone.


Sharing your comfort with someone who has also shared in your suffering is the same. If you walk with someone going through cancer, and you’ve been there yourself, you know exactly how they’re feeling and what their struggles are. Then, when that moment comes and the doctor says the treatment has been successful and they are free of cancer, you know exactly what the comfort is they’ve received – even if you’ve not yet heard that same word from your doctor on your cancer. But their comfort gives you new hope to carry on. You have shared in their comfort just as you have shared in their suffering.

God allows us to suffer so we can be that one who shares with someone else in their suffering. Romans 12:15 tells us to weep with those who weep. Our suffering, no matter what other purpose God may have for it, will always allow us to weep in true sympathy with another’s suffering. Maybe their loss of a loved one was because of an accident, and your loss was because of illness – you still share the pain of loss. Reach out and touch that person, for then you can certainly be there to join them in the comfort of victory. And as you share in their comfort, others will be drawn to the joy you have together and want to be part of this life in Christ. They WANT there to be purpose for their suffering, and they WANT that joy of shared comfort too.

*Can you think of someone who has applied 2 Corinthians 1:3-5 by comforting you in your time of need?
*How have you comforted someone else with the same comfort God gave you?