The Apostle Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians 1:3 that God is the “Father of mercies and God of all comfort.”  Here mercies means that he has compassion for us and so he comforts us.  The word comfort here is the word we get paraclete from.  A paraclete is one who comes alongside us. When God comforts us, he comes alongside of us, and He provides for us what we need in that moment of distress. He does not always give us what we want, but He always gives us what we need.

In the context of the passage quoted above, Paul tells us that we are pay forward the comfort we receive from God.  He says God “comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction” (2 Corinthians 1:4). Afflictions are anything that causes us pressure, anything that burdens are spirit. So, when God comforts us, we are to comfort others.

Remember, to comfort is to come along side someone else. We rightly criticize Job’s friends for the advice they gave Job, but they did one thing right.  ^“And they sat with him on the ground seven days and seven nights, and no one spoke a word to him, for they saw that his suffering was very great” (Job 2:13). Sometimes the best thing we can do for people to comfort them, is just to be there with them.

Too often, we want to comfort people by trying to lessen their pain. I remember going through a difficult time and everyone tried to minimize my pain. In summary people would say, “it’s not that bad.”  One person came alongside me and simply said, I know it hurts and I am praying for you.  That was the most comforting words because they simply acknowledged my pain and they prayed for me.