God Makes Beauty from Ashes: Comforting Others

Beauty from Ashes

That we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, 

with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.  

2 Corinthians 1:3,4

In God's economy, our troubles are repurposed to help others.

COMFORT makes me think of soft blankets, hot cocoa and a good book. Comfort foods are those delights which make of us think of hearth and home and a safe place where all is right in the world. Comfort in the context of giving care is a delight of another kind. This kind of comfort extends love and empathy by offering to come along side the hurting person by giving support in any way she or he can.

Comforting others takes many practical forms as in listening on the phone to someone under stress, sending encouraging notes to bring cheer, delivering flowers at just the right time, responding with immediacy when the crisis occurs. All are ways we make contact with people in need of comfort. These acts say, I care.

While in the midst of severe trials or afflictions it is hard to believe that your area sadness may one day be used to help another person. But it works that way. Those things which have been hardest for us provide opportunities to connect with other people in similar circumstances. We know what they are going through and its pain and challenges. Thus, we have earned the right to be heard.

There are many descriptors of this phenomenon such as beauty from ashes, joy comes in the morning,  the sun will rise again and so forth. Each of these phrases contains a measure of hope. They are expressions that encourage our thoughts when the day is dark and sorrow has gripped our hearts. Hope and courage plus God's help carry us through.

God intends for us to respond by reaching out to him when we find ourselves buried in an avalanche of despair, when the sun seems lost to us and too far away to access. Take heart. Trust is learned in this place. Our faith increases as we yield our stuff to God.

In all of these things there is a divine purpose that we cannot fully comprehend. Nevertheless, this will come to fruition. God sees what we cannot see. He knows what we have yet to learn.. God desires that we become fully equipped to fulfill the mission he has for us.

Dear Father God, The days are long, full of disappointments, discouragement, suffering and pain. Use these days to teach me that I may one day use these experiences as an opportunity to comfort someone else in need.