1Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus through the will of God, and Timothy our brother, to the assembly of God which is at Corinth, with all the saints who are in the whole of Achaia: 2Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
3Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, 4who comforts us in all our affliction, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, through the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. 5For as the sufferings of Christ abound to us, even so our comfort also abounds through Christ. 6But if we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation. If we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you the patient enduring of the same sufferings which we also suffer. 7Our hope for you is steadfast, knowing that, since you are partakers of the sufferings, so you are also of the comfort.
8For we don’t desire to have you uninformed, brothers, concerning our affliction which happened to us in Asia: that we were weighed down exceedingly, beyond our power, so much that we despaired even of life. 9Yes, we ourselves have had the sentence of death within ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God who raises the dead, 10who delivered us out of so great a death, and does deliver, on whom we have set our hope that he will also still deliver us, 11you also helping together on our behalf by your supplication; that, for the gift given to us by means of many, thanks may be given by many persons on your behalf.
12For our boasting is this: the testimony of our conscience that in holiness and sincerity of God, not in fleshly wisdom but in the grace of God, we behaved ourselves in the world, and more abundantly toward you. 13For we write no other things to you than what you read or even acknowledge, and I hope you will acknowledge to the end— 14as also you acknowledged us in part—that we are your boasting, even as you also are ours, in the day of our Lord Jesus.
15In this confidence, I was determined to come first to you, that you might have a second benefit, 16and by you to pass into Macedonia, and again from Macedonia to come to you, and to be sent forward by you on my journey to Judea. 17When I therefore planned this, did I show fickleness? Or the things that I plan, do I plan according to the flesh, that with me there should be the “Yes, yes” and the “No, no?” 18But as God is faithful, our word toward you was not “Yes and no.” 19For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you by us—by me, Silvanus, and Timothy—was not “Yes and no,” but in him is “Yes.” 20For however many are the promises of God, in him is the “Yes.” Therefore also through him is the “Amen”, to the glory of God through us.
21Now he who establishes us with you in Christ and anointed us is God, 22who also sealed us and gave us the down payment of the Spirit in our hearts.
23But I call God for a witness to my soul, that to spare you, I didn’t come to Corinth. 24We don’t control your faith, but are fellow workers with you for your joy. For you stand firm in faith.
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.
Have you ever found yourself suffering so much you couldn’t believe it? Earlier this year, I endured great suffering in the aftermath of treatment for cancer. In the middle of it all, I cried out to God that I couldn’t see any purpose in His letting me suffer so painfully. I was confused. I doubted for a short while whether He was even aware of what I was going through. Holding onto the rails of a hospital bed and writhing in pain, I screamed out, “God, are you even there? What could possibly be the purpose of all of this? Why, Lord, are you allowing me to go through this?” I was in a pretty dark place. It was so bad that I didn’t even want my wife to come see me in that condition, much less congregants from the church. Paul addresses all of your suffering in these short verses. This is how that came home to me.
When I got out of the hospital, after I had recovered enough to leave my home, I went to visit one of my congregants who lives near me. She has stage 4 pancreatic cancer. I had visited her many times before my own episode, but this time it was different. I wept with her and understood her suffering in a new and intimate way. As we hugged one another, she said, “Pastor, now you have some idea of exactly how I feel.” And you know what, she was right. Friend, if you are afflicted with something whether it is a health problem, a marital problem, a financial problem, or anything else, you can now empathize with others who are going through the same thing.
That means you’ve been there and you have the t-shirt. Use that understanding not to throw a pity party, but to minister to others letting them know that somehow God will use all of this for our good because we love Him and we’re called according to His purpose. These sufferings are temporary. They will not last forever. Paul tells us, “17 For our light affliction, which is for the moment, works for us more and more exceedingly an eternal weight of glory, 18 while we don’t look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.” (2 Corinthians 4:17-18 WEB)