Post 20: The Presence of God in the Presence of Suffering

There are many effective ways to journey with people toward God’s empowering, comforting presence that helps them to survive scars and plants the seeds of healing hope. We’ll focus again on trialogues: three-way conversations between us, our friend, and the Ultimate Spiritual Friend: Christ.

Sample Comfort Trialogues

Consider some sample biblical trialogues to assist people to move toward God’s comfort—toward their comforting God.

“The Bible teaches that ‘hope deferred makes the heart sick.’ It’s normal to hurt and to struggle when our internal pain seems incurable. How could you connect with Christ and the Body of Christ to find relief for your sadness over your scars?”
“Sometimes life beats us down so much and scars us so deeply that we just want to quit. We want to retreat, to give up on God and on ourselves. How are you facing this temptation?”

“Jacob’s physical wound left him with a permanent limp. Ironically, it left him stronger than ever spiritually. How is that possible? How could that happen in your life?”

“Some wounds won’t be totally healed until heaven (Revelation 7). How can you connect to Christ’s resurrection power to face life with this wound?”

“What can’t be cured, can be endured. How is God fortifying you to survive your loss?”

“What is your suffering teaching you about God’s power made perfect in your weakness?”

“What passages have helped and strengthened you to deal with this?”

“What verses have you found helpful in gaining comfort and hope as you go through this?”

“If you were to write a Psalm 42, (David moving from confusion to comfort) what would you write?”

“What applications could you make from how Paul found comfort in his despair in 2 Corinthians?”

“Christ often comforts us through other Christians. Who is coming alongside to help and comfort you? How could you connect with other Christians so they could help you to bear your burdens?”

And Your Comfort Source?

And how about you? When you struggle against depression over life’s losses, where do you turn for comfort? How can you find peace through the God of all comfort? Join us again tomorrow for your path to God’s comfort.