For Those in Any Affliction

 

This snippet of scripture has helped to shape my theology of personal suffering. It has been with me for most of my life and has always sustained me through difficult times:

" the God of all consolation, who consoles us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to console those who are in any affliction with the consolation with which we ourselves are consoled by God."

Meditate on it because it is neither a proof text nor a cliché. It is not easy to swallow. It is deeper than it first appears. It is life altering.

As I was writing this, a conversation arose in my house between grandson, Kaibian and wife, Andrea Sims over "The William Tell Overture."

Don't ask why or how, but it did.

I was actually looking for a song for a Christian going through hard times and I was hoping for something more empathetic.

However, here is this one that says, "OK; you are having hard times. Get up off your butt, get going, and make the best of this day!

Now, read Paul in context:

2 Corinthians 1:1-11

Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, To the church of God that is in Corinth, including all the saints throughout Achaia: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and the God of all consolation, who consoles us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to console those who are in any affliction with the consolation with which we ourselves are consoled by God. For just as the sufferings of Christ are abundant for us, so also our consolation is abundant through Christ. If we are being afflicted, it is for your consolation and salvation; if we are being consoled, it is for your consolation, which you experience when you patiently endure the same sufferings that we are also suffering. Our hope for you is unshaken; for we know that as you share in our sufferings, so also you share in our consolation. We do not want you to be unaware, brothers and sisters, of the affliction we experienced in Asia; for we were so utterly, unbearably crushed that we despaired of life itself. Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death so that we would rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead. He who rescued us from so deadly a peril will continue to rescue us; on him we have set our hope that he will rescue us again, as you also join in helping us by your prayers, so that many will give thanks on our behalf for the blessing granted us through the prayers of many.