We often hear well-meaning phrases offered to the suffering: “God will turn it for good.” “This too shall pass.” “Your pain has a purpose.” These statements may contain elements of truth, but they become shallow comfort when they are not grounded in Scripture.

Many believers who suffer assume that whatever purpose their pain has must ultimately be for their own benefit. Yet Scripture teaches something far deeper: God often intends our suffering to serve others.

Paul writes, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction.” (2 Corinthians 1:3–4) Paul’s suffering was not wasted. Nor was it merely personal. God used it to build the church.

The Reality of Deep Suffering

Suffering is not a superficial scrape of the knee. Some wounds never fully heal in this life.

A mother who has buried a child never forgets the loss. A husband who loses his beloved carries that absence the rest of his days. The pain remains even when life moves forward. Yet suffering does not mean life is over. Scripture never promises that grief disappears quickly. It teaches that God meets His people within their affliction.

Paul himself was no stranger to sorrow. He wrote about his hardships plainly: “Five times I received at the hands of the Jews the forty lashes less one. Three times I was beaten with rods… once I was stoned.” (2 Corinthians 11:24–25) Paul did not write about suffering as a detached theologian. He wrote as a man acquainted with affliction.

The God Who Comforts

In the opening verses of 2 Corinthians, the words for suffering and comfort dominate the passage — but comfort appears even more than affliction.

Paul describes God as the Father of mercies and the God of all comfort. In modern English, “comfort” can sound soft — like relief from discomfort or emotional reassurance. But historically the word carried a much stronger meaning. It derives from the Latin fortis, meaning strong or brave. Biblical comfort is not a sedative that dulls pain. It is divine strengthening that enables endurance.

The Puritan pastor Thomas Watson captured it well: “God’s rod is not to destroy His children, but to refine them.”

When God comforts His people, He does not always remove their trials. He gives the strength to endure them. “Fear not, for I am with you… I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” (Isaiah 41:10)

Those who suffer often learn God’s promises more deeply than those who live in ease. When everything else collapses, the believer discovers that God Himself is sufficient.

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Part 2 continues next week: how the comfort God gives is never meant to stop with us.

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If you are walking through suffering and need support, Freedom That Lasts exists to walk with you. Visit freedomthatlasts.com or find a chapter near you at freedomthatlasts.com/find-a-chapter.