2 Corinthians 1:1-11
1Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,
To the church of God in Corinth, together with all the saints throughout Achaia:
2Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
The God of All Comfort
3Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, 4who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God. 5For just as the sufferings of Christ flow over into our lives, so also through Christ our comfort overflows. 6If we are distressed, it is for your comfort and salvation; if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you patient endurance of the same sufferings we suffer. 7And our hope for you is firm, because we know that just as you share in our sufferings, so also you share in our comfort.
8We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about the hardships we suffered in the province of Asia. We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired even of life. 9Indeed, in our hearts we felt the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead. 10He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. On him we have set our hope that he will continue to deliver us, 11as you help us by your prayers. Then many will give thanks on our behalf for the gracious favor granted us in answer to the prayers of many.
St. Paul opens his second letter to the Corinthians telling us he is an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God...He is with Timothy and addresses this letter to the Church of Corinth...He gives grace and peace to the Corinthians from God our Father and the LORD Jesus Christ...Paul was converted on the road to Damascus...It was not his will to follow Jesus...Paul was persecuting Christians...Jesus even told Paul, he was persecuting Him (Acts 9:5)...God changed Paul from a persecutor of Jesus to an apostle of His...St. Paul realizes he is only an apostle of Jesus, because of His will...God's will turned Paul into the Teacher of the Gentiles...This was not Paul's plan, but God's plan...
St. Paul tells us praise be to God, our Father and His Son, Jesus Christ...God gives us compassion and comfort in our time of need...God does this so believers can comfort others in trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God...For as in life we will suffer as Christ had to suffer...But His compassion overflows into great comfort...If we are distressed and troubled, it is for our comfort and salvation...
Paul teaches us that when we are weak, then we are strong (2 Corinthians 12:10)...Hardships will come in our lives...We will lose jobs, have health issues, have grief, and suffer in our lives...Hardships are unavoidable...Hardships are not taught, but they are experienced and learning can come from hardships...When we learn from our hardships, we can glorify God for them...God can take our weaknesses and sufferings and make them our strengths...He can even take death, the ultimate finality of the earthy flesh, and make it good...He did this even in His Son...He took His Son's death and made it a most important part of a Christian's life...The Father has done this because of His grace and His love...
When troubles come it is so hard to see good...Sometimes we can't see the good until later, sometimes much later...We must remember this and help others in their troubles...We should prayer for others, because there is strength when a group is praying for the common good...Where two or more are gathered in His name, He is there with us (Matthew 18:19-20)...When these troubles come we must pray and think of the Father and Son...We must then trust in Him after we have prayed and give Him, His time, and at Godspeed He will assist, if it is His will...We must remember that we are a part of God's plan...And in His plan there is a compassion and comfort...