For They Will Be Comforted

2 Corinthians 1:3-4 (NLT)

³ All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is our merciful Father and the source of all comfort. ⁴ He comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others. When they are troubled, we will be able to give them the same comfort God has given us.

I have a dear friend who is faithful to remind me in love of this truth when I go through difficult circumstances or seasons of my life. "Just think," she has told me, "one day, the Lord will bring someone to you with this same kind of problem and you will be able to minister to them." Sometimes that is hard to swallow in the midst of my circumstances, but isn't it true based on what this scripture says? My Lord comforts me in my affliction, so that later on I will be able to offer that same kind of comfort to someone else in their dark hour. In further study of the word comfort, I was lead to this exchange between Ruth and Boaz, her kinsman redeemer.

Ruth 2:11-13 (NLT)

¹¹ “Yes, I know,” Boaz replied. “But I also know about everything you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband. I have heard how you left your father and mother and your own land to live here among complete strangers. ¹² May the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge, reward you fully for what you have done.”
¹³ “I hope I continue to please you, sir,” she replied. “You have comforted me by speaking so kindly to me, even though I am not one of your workers.”

Boaz knew what Ruth had done and the sacrifices she had made in seeing to her mother-in-law's needs. He knew that even though she was not Jewish, she had come to take refuge in the One True Living God, and he knew God would bless her for what she had done. Boaz's words were a comfort to Ruth. It's the same for us friend...Our Lord, our Redeemer, knows the sacrifices we have made. He knows the struggles we have faced. He knows our endurance in hard times. He knows the trust we have placed in Him. He is our refuge and He is going to bless us. We can be comforted by His words to us in the written Word. I wonder who Ruth went on to comfort later in life. She was King David's great-grandmother; perhaps she offered comfort to the "man after God's own heart." You and I don't know who's life we will be able to touch with the Lord's comfort as a result of today's struggle in our own life, but we can trust that this too shall pass and our Lord will use us as His Word says. Let these words written in red from our Redeemer fill us with hope, "God blesses those who mourn, for they will be comforted." Mark 5:4