Day 46

 

No Wasted Sorrows

 

"...the God of all comfort who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God"

 

2 Corinthians 1:4

 

There was a lady in our church whose goal in life was to live long enough to take care of her husband. Her husband was in advanced stages of a disease that left him disoriented, incapable of caring for himself and with a multitude of medical problems. It was a full time job to take care of him and she was determined to do it herself at home.

 

The problem was she was in poor health as well. Most of her problems were heart related. I visited her in the hospital on several occasions when she was in heart failure and she told me of her prayers to recover and take care of her husband. God answered her prayers.

 

About a month after my wife died this lady's husband went into the hospital. He was put in an ICU in the same hospital my wife had died in. I went up to the hospital to be with her and the family.

 

It was decided that they would take her husband off of life support and let him die peacefully. The family invited me in to the ICU with them and the life support devices were turned off. This dear woman looked at me and asked, "What do we do now?"

 

Just one month before I had been in that same hospital in that same situation. I knew what was most likely going to happen. God was not letting my sorrow and suffering go to waste. I was to use it to help that family.

 

I encouraged them to tell him good bye and that they would see him again. He was unconscious but you never know what they might hear or sense. And as that wife told her it was okay to go I watched the line on the monitor go flat. 

 

In 2 Corinthians Paul talks about how God is the "God of all comfort." And God comforts us not so we can hang on to that comfort selfishly but so that we can, in turn, comfort others. When God says, "All things work for good of those who love him," he is letting us know that even our sorrows will not be wasted.

 

Upon Further Review:

 

Read 2 Corinthians1:3-7

 

• Besides Paul calling him the "God of all comfort" what other comforting title does he give him?
• What is the comfort of God supposed to produce in us?
• Why is Paul's hope for the Corinthians firm?