Precious Lord Jesus, guide our hearts today to what you want us to think and share with others. 2 Corinthians 1:3-4
3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, 4 who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.
My brother-in-law Steve Brestin died in 2004. He was 59. Steve was a beloved orthopedic surgeon in Kearney, Nebraska. Family, friends and people he had treated over the years attended his funeral. His wife Dee, Sally’s sister, a Christian author and speaker, kept a diary of God’s provision from the date of the cancer diagnosis until the end of his life. The diary and her reflections on it following Steve’s death became the basis for her book, “The God of All Comfort.”
My thoughts turned to Dee and Steve this morning as I read the passage for today. I was reminded of the ways our compassionate God was at work in their lives during the last of their journey together. I thought about how God encouraged Dee to keep a diary. I thought about how He had given her the wonderful gift of writing and how He had encouraged her to write the book.
I thought too of the thousands of readers who bought the book. Some, I suspect, had walked a similar path. Some perhaps were just beginning the journey. I am certain that reading about Dee’s journey and His provision for her comforted many.
We have the sure knowledge from Scripture that when difficulties come in our lives, we have a compassionate Savior who comforts us in our need. But, as the passage says, that is not the end of the process. We who were comforted are to be a comfort to others and the instruments of a loving and compassionate God.
Lord, thank you for loving me and showing me your compassion. Thank you for your comforting hand. Help me to comfort others with the compassion you have shown to me. I realize I bring very little to the table but you have the power to take what I bring and multiple it beyond anything that I can imagine. Amen
John