2 Corinthians is a treasure trove of comforting texts for Christians suffering various forms of affliction. This is perhaps because the apostle Paul was himself greatly afflicted due to some issues he had with the Corinthians. Indeed, it was only after he was able to sort out some of the issues he had with them and was assured of their love and respect for him that he wrote 2 Corinthians.
Are you, beloved brethren and children, experiencing the warm and healing rays of the Sun of Righteousness? Are you enjoying the blessings of a righteous life? Are you enjoying being regarded as righteous in God’s eyes? Blessed are you if you are.
Nothing can separate us from God’s love— the same love with which He loves His Son. Nothing can rob our joy, for we know God is working all things together for our good. Nothing can destroy the peace that we have in Christ. Nothing can dampen our hope in Him as long as we continue to walk by faith. Nothing can ultimately harm us.
It is God’s purpose that those of us who experience trials may find comfort and then use our experience of being comforted to comfort others who are going through similar or not so similar kinds of trial. We are, to use a modern phrase, to pass it on.
The book of Lamentation, as its name suggests, is a lamentation. The prophet Jeremiah wrote it in the aftermath of the devastation of Jerusalem by the Babylonians in 586 BC. It is a very sad book. If you can read it without feeling anything, you are probably not reading it with understanding. This is probably not a book that many of us will turn to when we feel discouraged. But in the midst of it is one of the most beautiful and comforting verses in the bible.
