Wiregrass Church
When we’re in the midst of pain and suffering, it can feel like we’ll never be happy again, nothing good can come from our circumstances, and there’s no reason to continue living. But those are lies. God can redeem, use, and work through our pain. And when he does, we eventually have the opportunity to comfort others. There is a “Fellowship of Suffering.” People who’ve suffered are uniquely equipped and qualified to comfort people who are suffering.
Fellowship of Suffering
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There is a natural bond between those who have suffered deeply and similarly.
Fellowship of Suffering
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Those who suffered are uniquely qualified to comfort those who are suffering.
When someone who's been there walks into the room to comfort someone who is still there, something very, very powerful takes place.
Fellowship of Suffering
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Comfort from those who've been comforted is life-giving to those who need comfort.
Fellowship of Suffering
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Comforting is life-giving to the comforter as well.
What do you do when there's nothing you can do?
In The Meantime
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In the midst of an 'in the meantime' set of circumstances, God is not absent, and God is not apathetic, and God is not angry.
In The Meantime
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Receive adversity as a gift with a purpose and a promise.
In The Meantime
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Believe God is at work in you to mature you.
2 Corinthians 1:3 NIV
When you find yourself wrestling with the bad things in the world and a good God, understand the men and women that bring us our world view of God understood that tension and they continued to believe anyway.
There is a way forward, that the pain and the tragedy in this world do not mean you must abandon faith in a good and compassionate God.
2 Corinthians 1:4 NIV
God comforts us to comfort others.
God comforts us through others to comfort others.
2 Corinthians 1:5 NIV
Our capacity to comfort is determined by the degree to which we suffered.
2 Corinthians 1:6 NIV
2 Corinthians 1:7 NIV
God has designed comfort as something to be received and passed along.
2 Corinthians 1:3-4 NIV
In The Meantime
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Comfort those who need comforting with the comfort that you have received.
If you've been there, you are uniquely qualified to comfort those who are still there, and this will bring purpose to your pain and it will instill life in your soul.
In The Meantime
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- I'll never be happy again.
- Nothing good can come from this.
- There's no point in continuing.
In The Meantime
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- You can be happy again.
- Something good can come from this.
- There is a reason to continue living.
Philippians 1:6 NIV
