A Picture of Comfort
“...who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.” 2 Corinthians 1:4
Take Away the Pain
Young Poppy was playing outside with friends when she stumbled, fell, and scraped her knee. She sat for a moment, crying, as she looked at her owie. Having heard her daughter’s cries, Mom met her at the door. She picked Poppy up, carried her to a chair, and sat there with Poppy on her lap. She gently rocked the girl, stroking her hair, and murmuring to her that she was okay, that her injury wasn’t too bad, and it would stop hurting soon.
After a while, Poppy’s tears lessened, so she sat up and looked at Mom. With a hiccup, she wailed, “I wasn’t done playing and now all my friends will have left to go to the park without me…!” More tears threatened.
At this point, Mom carried Poppy into the bathroom and carefully washed her cut and bandaged it.
Exhort
“There, Poppy,” she soothed. “Your knee is all fixed up and you’re ready to rejoin your friends. Now dry your eyes, take this cookie, and go after them.”
Poppy took a bite of the proffered cookie, grinned at her mom, and ran out of the house with the screen door slamming a final note to the event.
Two Aspects of “Comfort”
We’ve just seen Poppy’s mother comfort her daughter. She held her, spoke softly, and rocked her. But there was more than that. A mother comforting her crying child is the first picture that enters my mind when I think of the word “comfort,” meaning to take away pain or distress. However, there’s a second part that means to encourage, exhort, and to prepare the other person to return to the fray of life. Notice that Poppy’s mom, after assuring her that she was okay now and dealing with the source of her pain, gave her instructions (“dry your eyes, take this cookie, go after them”) that encouraged her to go back to playing. She didn’t just ease Poppy’s pain—she told her what she should do next.
Several months ago my Flourish group covered the topic of comfort, and in digging into the definition, I discovered that exhort is a facet of “comfort.” That was an aspect of comfort that I hadn’t been aware of. I know that the exhortation part of “comfort” comes more easily to me, so I’m praying that the Lord will open my eyes to the “pain-relieving” aspect as He continues to make me more like His Son.