• Passing On The Comfort We've Received

    By: Kristen L. McNulty

    Reprint rights available on request. Email the author at kristenmcnulty@hotmail.com.

    All around us the world seems to be spiraling. For all of us, almost every single part of our lives has changed. From the way we go to school or go to work, to how we interact with our friends and family, to how we shop and live in our communities. In the midst of it all, while many are clinging to every piece of news, wondering what’s coming next or if any salvation is on the horizon, you and I have been given a gift. And that is, as believers while we hear the same news and live the same restrictions and have the same concerns about those we love, we are experiencing this differently from many of our friends and neighbors because of the peace and comfort we have from knowing Jesus. 

    We Receive Peace and Comfort From Christ


    We know who is ultimately in control. We receive peace and comfort when we seek Him and call on His name. And that my friends is such a gift we shouldn’t be taking for granted. Because next door to us or across the street or across the screen are people who are scared, frustrated, uncertain, worried and in desperate need of the same kind of love, peace and comfort that fills us.
    In 2 Corinthians Paul put it this way:

    "All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is our merciful Father and the source of all comfort. 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." 2 Corinthians 1:3-4

    We will be able to give them the same comfort God has given us. So my question for you and I is will we live these verses out, now more than ever? Will we see past ourselves and actively look to encourage and comfort those who aren’t relying on God for their salvation and to see them through here and now?
    Later in chapter two of 2 Corinthians, Paul writes:

    "But thank God! He has made us his captives and continues to lead us along in Christ's triumphal procession. Now he uses us to spread the knowledge of Christ everywhere, like a sweet perfume." 2 Corinthians 2:14

    What We Need To Be Doing


    That’s what we, as believers, need to be doing right now. COVID-19 doesn’t change that we are supposed to be allowing ourselves to be used by Jesus here and now to spread the news about Him to our friends, family and neighbors like a sweet perfume.

    So will you and I do it? Will we,

    Instead of complaining on social media about the latest so-called inconvenience to our schedules, post words of encouragement and comfort?

    Instead of streaming yet another mindless show to fill our time, pick up the phone and call someone who is struggling and comfort them as best we can?

    And instead of scrolling past a post or a text or screening a call, choose to truly listen to those we are in contact with when they are hurt, afraid or panicking?

    A Beacon Of Light In A Dark Time


    COVID-19 might change the way we do church and the way we live our day to day lives, but it hasn’t changed our mission from God to be spreading the Good News and to be a beacon of light even in these dark times.

    We’ve been given such a gift, to know and experience the love and comfort of God, now is not the time to hold back from sharing it with others, even if it means being extra creative with how we do so.

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