Week 46 Corinthians
Yesterday I was thinking about pain & suffering so I pay some attention when Paul starts talking about one of his own dilemmas: we were crushed and completely overwhelmed, and we thought we would never live through it. In fact, we expected to die.
Paul has things to say about troubles and I jot them down:
When I’m in trouble God can comfort me…
When I’m comforted then I can comfort other people…
If I comfort sufferers then I get back a bit of the Lord’s comfort…
Suffering can be a learning tool to help me rely more on the Lord…
When I’m suffering prayer can help.
Yesterday I was thinking about the question: if there’s a super-powerful god who’s a good-guy wouldn’t he get rid of suffering? But Paul hasn’t even a slight interest in that question. I try sketching out what he just said:
I draw a vertical comfort line coming down from the Lord to me…
Then a horizontal one going out from me to other sufferers…
And then one rebounding back to me from other sufferers…
An internal educational line spins in my head helping me learn reliance on the Lord…
And a dotted analgesic prayer line (or lines – maybe horizontal & vertical) that helps take the edge off.
The thinking and approach Paul takes to pain & suffering is a helpful one to know. But it’s a tough and effortful one to apply.
Note: quote from 2 Corinthians 1:8-9 (NLT). My paraphrased points are from 4-5, 4 & 6, 7, 9, & 11.