2 Corinthians 1:3-9:
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, 4 who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. 5 For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also abounds through Christ. 6 Now if we are afflicted, it is for your consolation and salvation, which is effective for enduring the same sufferings which we also suffer. Or if we are comforted, it is for your consolation and salvation. 7 And our hope for you is steadfast, because we know that as you are partakers of the sufferings, so also you will partake of the consolation. 8 For we do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, of our trouble which came to us in Asia: that we were burdened beyond measure, above strength, so that we despaired even of life. 9 Yes, we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves but in God who raises the dead.
God is sovereign over everything. He causes and permits every seemingly good and bad thing in our lives to happen. He foresees it all, and does it with a purpose. God rules over chance (Proverbs 16:33). The purpose of God stands over that of men (Proverbs 19:21). He frustrates peoples' plans (Psalm 33:10). He also declares that His plan shall stand (Isaiah 46:10).
God does things that we may question. He puts hardships on our path, very difficult things to deal with. Things like the unexpected death of a loved one. A seemingly undeserved sickness. Physical and mental handicaps. So many more things, even far worse than the ones mentioned. Even situations not comparable to these can be hard. But what are we to think about these things?
We could just look up Romans 8:28 and stop there. God's working everything to our benefit, so I don't have to worry. It'll be alright in the end.
Yes, that's true, but there's so much more than that! God actually reveals in the Bible some of the reasons why He does put hardships on our path. Yes, I say some. Not all the reasons are mentioned. But enough for us to get both a comfort and responsibility from our condition.
The first purpose I found was to expose our sin. An example of this is Job. Job 1:1 tells us that he was righteous. But chapter 42:6 says that he repented in dust and ashes. How can a blameless man repent?
Even the most righteous of men have more than a sediment of sin in them. Hardships in their life are one way of exposing that sediment and enabling them to identify and repent from any remaining sin in them. Job was righteous. However, after being struck with all kinds of adversities, his sin was exposed and he was able to humble himself before God.
Paul also testifies to this. In 2 Corinthians 1:8-9 he says God burdened them beyond measure so that they should not trust in themselves but in God.
The same applies to us. If we are struck by financial, physical, mental or emotional hardships, it can expose a sin that we are not aware of. In every Christian heart, there is some element of self-reliance. By shaking our lives, God can show us and expose this self-reliance so we replace it with a reliance on Him. God uses hardships to wake us up to our own sin.
A second purpose of God for giving us hardships is to wake us up to the hardships of the world. Hebrews 13:1,3 says, “Let brotherly love continue... Remember the prisoners as if chained with them—those who are mistreated—since you yourselves are in the body also.”
We tend to forget those who are constantly in pain, suffering, hardships and burdens. God tells us to remember them. “You also are in the body.” In other words, when your body experiences suffering, use it as a reminder about those who are being mistreated or suffering much more than you. Then put an effort into giving to them. Pray for them. Put effort into making their lives less miserable. Do unto others as you would like them to do to you. That's another purpose for God-given hardships.
Related to this is the care of Christ's church. Sufferings unite a church. Acts 4:34 describes how the church should be. There should be no needy people in the church. There should be no uncomforted people in the church. There should be a communion of saints of believers whereby everyone is united, comforting each other. Every member should have their needs supplied.
God uses the suffering of members in the church to unite the church. He also uses the suffering of the whole church to unite the church. In 2 Corinthians 8:1-2 Paul rejoices because in severe affliction the church was united in generosity and unity. The people of the church overflowed in generosity when the times were bad.
Where do we find the strength to comfort each other? The Corinthians were joyful and that resulted in generosity (2 Cor 8:2). 2 Corinthians 1:3-4 says, “the Father of mercies and God of all comfort … comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.”
We comfort each other because we know that God comforts us. God is with us and caring for us. Use that to comfort others. Use “the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.” What is that comfort? That comfort is the consolation spoken about in verse 7. We have a consolation that by far outweighs all suffering on this earth. God raises the dead (verse 9)! That is comforting.
In the midst of hardships, God is working. He is using hard things in our life to strengthen our faith, and to erase the sins we are not aware of. He is using sufferings to remind us of others who always experience sufferings. And finally He is using our hardships to unite His church in a bond of perfection.
God really does work all things to our benefit!
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