Devotions with Pastor Donny Woodbridge

2 Corinthians 1:3-4
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and 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 receive from God.

The word comfort comes from the Latin word con fortaremeaning with strength and support. This isn’t just a warm gesture or a soft encouragement This kind of comfort empowers us to persevere.

The University of Wisconsin’s Center for the Study of Pain conducted an experiment in which researchers timed how long volunteers could keep their feet in buckets of freezing water. They discovered something very remarkable. They discovered that whenever a companion was allowed in the room with the person whose feet were being frozen, they could endure the cold for twice as long as those who suffered alone. The presence of another caring person doubled the amount of pain that a person could endure. The same can be said of emotional pain.

The apostle Paul tells us in these verses that we can pass on to others comfort we ourselves receive from God. Would you take a few moments to ask the Lord to show you someone who needs to know God’s comfort expressed through you this week?

Let me close with this prayer from Saint Francis of Assisi:

Lord make Me an instrument of Your peace
Where there is hatred let me sow love.
Where there is injury, pardon.
Where there is doubt, faith.
Where there is despair, hope.
Where there is darkness, light.
Where there is sadness joy.
O Divine master grant that I may not so much seek
to be consoled as to console
To be understood, as to understand.
To be loved. as to love
For it's in giving that we receive
And it's in pardoning that we are pardoned
And it's in dying that we are born
To eternal life.

Pastor Donny