II Cor. 1:3 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 affliction so that we will be able to comfort those who are in [a]any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. 5 For just as the sufferings of Christ are [b]ours in abundance, so also our comfort is abundant through Christ.
Even before the fall, the first thing that God ever pronounced "not good" was the aloneness of man. Yesterday Mark and I had the pleasure of the company of two sweet couples, who shared burdens with us, as we shared our common struggles with them. Thanks be to God that we are not alone in this world filled with temptations, hardships, afflictions, and turmoil.Being alone in suffering is too much to bear. But being in the presence of God's people who listen without judging harshly and can be present in our weaknesses is a little glimpse of what it is to be in the presence of the Lord who faithfully abides with us in the darkest places.
Not only did our Beautiful Savior live on this earth to face every temptation and pass the test for us. Not only did He suffer the penalty for our sins. Not only did He impute to us His own righteousness. Not only does He intercede for us on the basis of His own empathy for our pain. But He abides with us always. And then He gives us people in the fellowship of the saints to come along and comfort us in our afflictions. What a good God is ours.
