Comfort One Another
Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort; who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God. – 2 Corinthians 1:3-4
Others can only imagine the pain we felt in seeing our precious newborn baby go through several major surgeries to correct
a facial disfigurement that was present at his birth. We knew in our hearts these procedures advised by his doctors were best done while he was young,
yet we could not help but wonder why God would allow such a trial to come our way. We, along with friends and family, prayed fervently for a miracle
of immediate divine healing, and believed it could happen, but we saw no miracle.
Over a period of five years, multiple surgeries corrected the problem, which left only a scar on our son’s lip. He grew into a very sensitive and compassionate
boy, and we thanked God for him, but we still did not know why God had allowed that trial.
Then one day, we received a call from the hospital where our son had spent so much time. A baby with a serious facial defect had just been born there,
and the young parents were devastated. We were asked if we would come and offer some comfort from our own experience, so the parents could know that
their baby had a bright future and that this misfortune could be overcome. Right then we knew why God had allowed us to go through that experience.
Our family could empathize. We had been there and knew just what this young couple was going through! With God’s help, we could encourage and comfort them,
and maybe it would be easier for them than it had been for us. We did not know if they had learned to lean on the Lord as we had, so perhaps we could
lead them in that direction. The Comforter had been with us when we needed Him, and is still our strength today. It was our turn, now, to use that
comfort to give reassurance to someone else.