Comforting Others

Comforting Others

Compassionate Women

Read: 2 Corinthians 1:3-7

The mother sat in her family room, looking around the room with dazed, empty eyes. In the past twenty-four hours, her world had changed forever—with the call about her son’s car accident, the hours spent in the intensive-care waiting room, the devastating news from the surgeon. Friends had rallied around her, but how could they know how she felt? She heard the doorbell ring and hoped that her husband wouldn’t answer it. She heard footsteps, and the next minute, she found herself wrapped in the embrace of a woman she barely knew—a mother who had lost her daughter in a car accident the year before.

Many women who have experienced tragedy reach out to others in similar situations through organizations such as hospice groups, rape-counseling hotlines, or bereavement support groups. The women in Bible times didn’t have these outlets, but many of them surely ministered to other individuals. Tamar probably had a heart for other women who had experienced the horror of rape. Perhaps Naomi reached out to other widows after she returned to Israel. The mother in Matthew 15 would have been able to support other mothers with seriously ill children. Perhaps Job’s wife had a special sensitivity for people who felt that God had abandoned them.

One result of suffering is that we develop a new awareness of others who are hurting. Since God has comforted us and helped us endure, we are able to reach out and minister to others in similar situations. People in the middle of a tragedy need someone who has lived through a similar experience to come alongside them. As women who have been there, we can identify with their feelings and offer comfort as no one else can. If we accept the comfort that God gives us in painful situations, tragedy won’t make us bitter; it will make us more compassionate.

He comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others. When they are troubled, we will be able to give them the same comfort God has given us.

2 Corinthians 1:4