Sunday, December 26, 2010

Gift of Comfort

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 our troubles so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God. 2 Cor 1:3 (NIV)

A few days after Christmas, I found a cheerfully wrapped package on my porch. It contained a journal. The night before, I had used up the last page of mine. Wondering who had such perfect timing, I hurried to read the card. It was from Barbara, a woman in my Bible study group. On the card, she wrote, “This is a gift of thanks for supporting me over the past year. If it had not been for you, I may not have come back.”

A year earlier, Barbara had joined our Bible study. Barbara was gregarious and enjoyed the group. I am very talkative, but had been consciously working to listen instead of talking. One morning I noticed Barbara had not spoken. “Is something wrong?” I asked. She fought back tears and shook her head. “Call me,” she whispered. When I called, she told me she had been diagnosed with cancer. Later she was able to share her sorrow with our group and we found ways to support her as she was treated and healed.

I am usually centered on sharing my thoughts and my feelings, but that day I was sensitive to the needs of another. As a result, I was able to reach out to someone else with the comfort that I myself had received from the group.

Comforting Father, thank You for using me to comfort Barbara with Your Love. Amen.

©2010 Stephanie Snead

1 comment:

Christy said...

Well written. Your story reminds us that sometimes He lets us know the results of our work for the Him.