It's ALL Your Fault!

Have you ever heard someone, maybe your child, say, “It’s ALL your fault!”??  Now, depending upon what one is facing, the significance of that statement can range from horrible to no big deal.  But have you ever thought of what your response would be if you were asked to take on yourself the pain of another…?...to face hardship for another…?...to suffer when it was NOT your fault?!  Paul tells the Corinthians in today’s NT reading that the comfort we receive is given so that we would then be able to turn around and extend that same comfort to others.  “So that” (1:4) denotes purpose and Paul wants his readers to know that their comfort is not simply to make them feel better.  The comfort God provides them is to be shared, to encourage hearts and used to bind up the hurts of others.
Our culture, and even today’s church culture, does not appreciate having to suffer for the issues or needs of another.  Yet, that is exactly what won our salvation and what our Savior asks of us.  He has called us to love our enemies, to ‘do good to those who hate’ us (Lk. 6:27) and ‘pray for those who persecute us’ (Mt. 5:44). If we are called to that depth of love for our enemies, our love for ‘regular people’ ought to be even greater (if that was possible)…we must even be willing to suffer for them!  And, as is plainly stated in Scripture, we can expect to innocently suffer for Christ’s sake if we are truly His followers. 
Whatever the cause of your suffering, allow the Lord to provide you His comfort.  Then, do not allow that suffering to go to waste but rather apply it as a balm to the hurts of another.  Paul said that if he was afflicted, it was for the Corinthians’ comfort and salvation (1:8).  He wanted his suffering and the comfort the Lord provided him to be used in the lives of his loved ones.  Your suffering might not be for you but just might be for someone else who needs you to bring the Lord’s touch to their lives.  Live to make Him known!