Awestruck: 30 Days of Wonder in the Bibleნიმუში

Paul knew suffering, persecution, and even despair. Yet he praised God as the source of all comfort.

Not just occasional comfort.

All comfort.

Paul had been beaten, shipwrecked, imprisoned, and rejected by people he loved. He'd faced dangers that would have broken most of us. Yet from that place of lived experience, he called God "the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort."

The Greek word Paul used here is paraklesis—the same root word that Jesus used when He described the Holy Spirit as the Paraclete, the One who comes alongside.

God's comfort isn't passive sympathy from a distance.

He draws near, steps in, and walks with us in the middle of pain.

I understand Paul's words differently now. God has met me in the raw grief of losing my mom, the quiet ache of miscarriages, the recurring challenges of chronic health struggles, and the slow work of healing deep wounds from when the church itself hurts you. In each of these places—so different from Paul's sufferings—I've discovered the same truth Paul proclaimed: God is the source of all comfort.

Here's the wonder: God doesn't promise to remove every hardship, but He promises to meet us in them. His comfort comes personally through His Spirit, His Word, and often through His people. And Paul reminds us of something even greater. We receive comfort and then we can comfort others. God's compassion multiplies through us.

Remember today that comfort isn't something to chase. It's Someone you can turn to. The same God who comforted Paul in his darkest moments wants to comfort you in yours.

Reflect:

What does it mean to you that God's comfort is personal, not generic or generalized?

Tomorrow, discover what God told Paul when he begged for healing—and why the answer is better than what he asked for.