Where I live, around this time of year, the nighttime temperatures dip into the 30s, which means it’s comforter weather. I like to sleep with the window partly open, regardless of the time of year, and so that’s when I pull out the down comforter for the bed. Just as there’s nothing quite like the warmth of a wood fire, there’s nothing quite like the warmth of a down comforter on a cool morning.
Comforter. What an apt name for a fluffy blanket that envelopes you in warmth. You probably already know where I’m going with this…
2 Corinthians 1:3-7 (emphasis added)
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, 4 who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. 5 For as we share abundantly in Christ’s sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too.6 If we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; and if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which you experience when you patiently endure the same sufferings that we suffer. 7 Our hope for you is unshaken, for we know that as you share in our sufferings, you will also share in our comfort.
In the Greek text, the word “comfort” and its derivations are translated from the same word. This is the figure, polyptoton, where the same root word is used in different inflections. While there is much to learn about comfort from these verses, I want to focus on the first point: God is the God of all comfort.
God is not the God of a little comfort but of all comfort. And He comforts us in all our affliction, not just once in a while, not just on occasion, but in all our affliction. I don’t know all the ways in which God comforts us, but I know a few.
The fellowship of the saints can be a source of great comfort. When Paul and company were in Macedonia, they were afflicted at every turn: “fighting without and fear within” (2 Cor 7:5b). But God, who comforts the downcast, comforted them by Titus’s arrival. At the same time, Titus received comfort from the Corinthians. In Acts 11, Barnabas comforted the saints in Antioch after the persecution that arose over Stephen’s death. In Acts 15, Judas and Silas comforted the brethren with many words. In Acts 16, Paul and Silas, after being released from prison, comforted the saints in Phillipi. In Acts 20, Paul, after the uproar in Ephesus, comforted the disciples before departing for Macedonia. Paul sent Tychicus to comfort the Ephesian saints (Eph 6:22) and Paul sent Onesimus to comfort the saints at Colossae (Col 4:8). We are to comfort one another daily (Heb 3:13). Our fellow saints can be a source of great comfort.
I also know that the utterance manifestations bring comfort (1 Cor 14) and that the truth recorded in 1 Thessalonians 4:16-18 brings comfort, especially to those who are grieving the death of a loved one. Personally, I find Christian music to be very comforting.
These are some of the ways that God brings comfort to His people, but they are surely not all of the ways. If God is the God of all comfort, He surely has a lot of ways in which He brings solace to His people.
What a blessing to think about at this chilly time of year—that God is the God of all comfort. That beats a fluffy blanket any day.
