Sorrow And Sympathy

Coral Ridge Ministries

Sorrow And Sympathy

2 Corinthians 1:3–4, NIV

May 28, 2023

…the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God.
—2 Corinthians 1:3–4, NIV

The problem of suffering, or as C. S. Lewis called it, “the problem of pain” has troubled believers for centuries. In fact, an entire book of the Bible—Job—addresses the issue of enduring pain and sorrow. Why does God allow us to go through heartbreaking times of tribulation? Have you ever asked that question? Have you ever cried in despair to God, desperately asking, “Why?” Maybe you’re experiencing suffering even now. And if you’re like the rest of us, you want nothing more than to purge yourself of all pain, trouble, hurt, and sorrow.

Despite our desperate cries, God often doesn’t remove troubles and sorrows from our lives. Why? Because God uses suffering to prepare us for helping others. Through our troubles and sorrows, God molds us into sympathetic and compassionate people. The Bible speaks of comforting those in trouble through the comfort that we ourselves have received from God. Only those who have endured the shadow, who have known suffering and trouble, can adequately comfort others.

In the Old Testament, when a man was ordained to the priesthood, he had water sprinkled on his head, his hands, and his feet. We who are the priests of God, in the universal priesthood of all believers in the new covenant, experience a baptism of tears that prepares us for the office of sympathy.

Where did Paul get the wisdom to write his comforting epistles? Where did David get the inspiration to write those solacing psalms that play such an important role in every believer’s life? Where did John get the foresight to write that tremendously hopeful conclusion to the book of Revelation? Each one of them gained the ability to comfort others by experiencing his own tears.

If you know someone experiencing hard times right now, comfort that person. Pray for him or her. Show sympathy and compassion. And if you are enduring a difficult time, don’t view it as a hopeless, needless tragedy. Perhaps God is using your trial to prepare you for an important work. Ask God today to transform your sorrows into sympathy and empathy.

QUOTE:
Sweet are the uses of adversity.
—WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE

The Name Above Every Name

May 31, 2023

‘And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.’ —Matthew 1:21 Many people are given exalted names but never live up to them. Charles Spurgeon tells about wandering in a cemetery and seeing a headstone inscribed with these words: “Sacred to the memory of Methuselah Coney. Age, six months.” (Recall that the biblical Methuselah lived more than nine hundred years!) The most important name the world has ever heard is the name of Jesus, and Jesus lived up to everything that name foretold. To make sure Mary and Joseph named Jesus properly, God sent angelic messengers to proclaim what His name should be and why. “Jesus” means “Jehovah saves,” and Jesus saved all of us from sin. The Bible has many other names for Jesus, but “Jesus” was His personal name, the name we call Him as our friend, the name that celebrates Him as our Savior. Of course, we’ve Anglicized Jesus’ name. In His Hebrew home, people would have called Jesus “Joshua.” That name, common in that time and in ours, celebrates the memory of Joshua, one of the great heroes of Israel. Joshua led God’s people into the Promised Land of Canaan and fought to drive out all the Israelites’ enemies. During his lifetime, Joshua kept God’s people in line so that they walked with the Lord. Joshua lived up to his name. He saved God’s people from earthly enemies and led them to the Promised Land. Jesus lived up to His name by doing something even greater—saving His people from eternal foes and delivering them into an eternal promised land. As you go about your business today, honor the name of Jesus. Each time His name comes to mind, dwell on the fact that He has lived up to the promise of His name by saving you from sin and death for eternity. QUOTE: Jesus Christ [is] the condescension of divinity and the exaltation of humanity. —PHILLIPS BROOKS

The Cares Of The World And The Deceitfulness Of Wealth

May 30, 2023

‘…the ones that fell among thorns are those who, when they have heard, go out and are choked with cares, riches, and pleasures of life…’ —Luke 8:14 Yesterday we considered two kinds of “hearers” of God’s Word: the wayside hearers and the rocky-soil hearers. Both had hardened their hearts, refusing to allow the Word to penetrate and change their lives. Today we’re going to discuss the third kind of hearer that Jesus spoke of in the parable of the sower: the thorny-soil hearer. The farmer cast the seed everywhere, and some of the seed fell on thorny soil. Although the soil richly nourished the seed, the thorns choked the plant so that it couldn’t bring fruit to maturity. In the same way, thorny-soil hearers can hear and absorb God’s Word, but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches choke them, preventing them from bearing any fruit. I have known so many people like this. I think of a dear man I know who once told me, “Oh, I haven’t got time for spiritual things. I have to make a living. It is so hard these days.” Thorny-soil hearers pay too much attention to the cares of this world, forgetting that they will one day die and face God and their cares will disintegrate in His presence. And yet people continue to allow bills, jobs, worries, and anxieties to crowd out the Word. These cares choke out time to serve Christ and to bear fruit. I know of too many people who have gone this way, spiritually strangled to death, never bringing forth fruit to maturity. What about the deceitfulness of riches? I have seen many people who have prospered, so blessed by God that they no longer concern themselves with the cares of this world, but they have now let riches deceive them. Everything has come their way, and they want more. Instead of God’s goodness leading them to trust Him more, their wealth simply brings forth more thorns in their lives. They buy every sort of new gadget and toy and invest in every new luxury to make life exciting. They have no time for God, no time for church. Instead, they say, “I must look after my portfolio.” Money in itself is not bad, but the love of money is; it has shipwrecked the faith of many. Instead of being wayside, rocky, or thorny soil for the seeds of God’s Word, we need to be good soil, hearing God’s Word, understanding it, and bearing fruit for His kingdom. Today, read God’s Word, and let it really sink in. Then let it do its work in your heart so that you might bear its fruit in your life. QUOTE: The poorest man I know is the man who has nothing but money. —JOHN D. ROCKEFELLER

The Parable Of The Sower

May 29, 2023

“Behold, a sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seed fell by the wayside; and the birds came and devoured them. Some fell on stony places, where they did not have much earth; and they immediately sprang up because they had no depth of earth. But when the sun was up they were scorched, and because they had no root they withered away.” —Matthew 13:3-6 Why do some people fall away from the faith and others continue to the end? A person’s spiritual staying power depends on his or her inclination upon hearing God’s Word. Jesus explained this in detail by telling the parable of the sower. In this parable a farmer sows seeds on four kinds of soil; three were bad, and one was good. Each type of soil represents a way that people might hear God’s Word. Today let’s consider the first two types of soil and what they represent. Seed first fell along the wayside path. In Palestine, small farms were divided by paths trampled hard by many feet, both human and animal. As the farmer sowed the seed, some of it fell on this hard-packed dirt. Because the seed was vulnerable on the path, the birds gobbled it up. This hard-packed soil represents the hearts of wayside hearers. Trampled hard by the hoofs of Satan and his herd of lies, lusts, and vanities, God’s Word has no place to sink in and take root. Second, seed fell on rocky soil. This kind of soil was actually slabs of rock protruding from the hills or mountains with only an inch or two of soil on top. That soil was easily warmed by the sun, encouraging the seed to sprout quickly. But when the sun rose high, it scorched the seed. Having no root, the seed died. In the same way, rock-soil hearers feel enthusiastic about God’s Word when they first hear it. But while their hearts seem tender to the Word on the outside, inwardly they have no intentions of allowing the Word to change their hearts and lives. The instant that tribulation comes because of God’s Word, these people stumble spiritually, unable to withstand the heat. Do you know people who fall into these two categories? Ask God to soften the soil of their hearts, preparing them to hear His Word and bear its fruit in their lives. Tomorrow we’ll address the third type of soil. QUOTE: "Almighty God of truth and love, To me Thy pow’r import; The burden from my soul remove. The hardness of my heart." —CHARLES WESLEY