Paul commences his 2nd letter to the Corinthians describing the comfort during affliction that God provides. God comforts us so that “we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.“
We’re comforted in order that we might comfort others. Even while suffering to the point that he “despaired of life itself”, Paul’s focus was on the needs of those around him. Paul recognised that his experience “was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead”.
Although Paul refers to his own affliction, these same ideas apply to affliction experienced today. It serves to mould our character and unite us in shared experiences, “for we know that as you share in our sufferings, you will also share in our comfort“. Let us work together, sharing in each other’s sufferings and comfort, and in Paul’s confidence that God “will deliver us.”