함께 나누는 위로

💙 함께 나누는 위로

 ✝  고린도후서 1:3 - 1:8 

“우리로 하여금 하나님께 받는 위로로써 모든 환난 중에 있는 자들을 능히 위로하게 하시는 이시로다 “
(고린도후서 1:4)

딸 헤일리가 우리 집에 왔을 때, 딸의 세 살 난 아들 캘럼이 이상한 옷을 입고 있었습니다. ‘긁지 마’라고 불리는 이 옷은 소매에 벙어리장갑이 달린 긴 팔 상의였습니다. 손자 캘럼은 피부가 거칠고 빨갛게 부어오르면서 가려워지는 만성 피부병으로 고생하고 있습니다. “이 ‘긁지 마’ 옷은 캘럼이 피부를 긁어 상처 나지 않게 해 줘요.”라고 딸이 설명했습니다. 
일곱 달 후, 딸도 피부가 타듯이 부어올라 가려움 때문에 계속 긁어야만 했습니다. 딸은 “이제야 캘럼이 겪고 있는 일을 이해하게 됐어요.”라고 고백했습니다.
 “어쩜 나도 ‘긁지 마’를 입어야 할 것 같아요.” 

딸에게 일어난 일은 바울이 말한 고린도후서 1:3-5 말씀을 생각나게 해주었습니다.
 “모든 위로의 하나님이시며 우리의 모든 환난 중에서 우리를 위로하사 우리로 하여금 하나님께 받는 위로로써 모든 환난 중에 있는 자들을 능히 위로하게 하시는 이시로다 그리스도의 고난이 우리에게 넘친 것 같이 우리가 받는 위로도 그리스도로 말미암아 넘치는도다.” 

가끔 하나님은 우리가 질병이나 상실, 위기와 같은 곤경의 시기를 지나게 하시면서, 그 겪는 고난을 통해 그리스도께서 십자가에서 우리를 위해 겪으셨던 극심한 고통에 감사할 수 있도록 가르치십니다. 

위로와 힘을 얻기 위해 하나님을 의지할 때, 우리는 고난을 겪고 있는 다른 사람들을 위로하고 용기를 줄 수 있습니다. 하나님께서 우리에게 주신 것들로 누구를 위로해줄 수 있을지 생각해 봅시다.

당신의 고난의 체험을 통해 하나님께서 누구를 위로할 수 있게 도와주셨습니까? 
그들이 그들의 아픔을 통해 그리스도께서 십자가에서 겪으신 고난에 감사할 수 있도록 어떻게 도울 수 있을까요?
<하나님, 고난 중에 하나님의 위로를 경험하게 하셔서 다른 사람들을 위로할 수 있도록 도와주소서.>

3. 찬송하리로다 그는 우리 주 예수 그리스도의 하나님이시요 자비의 아버지시요 모든 위로의 하나님이시며 4. 우리의 모든 환난 중에서 우리를 위로하사 우리로 하여금 하나님께 받는 위로로써 모든 환난 중에 있는 자들을 능히 위로하게 하시는 이시로다 5. 그리스도의 고난이 우리에게 넘친 것 같이 우리가 받는 위로도 그리스도로 말미암아 넘치는도다 6. 우리가 환난 당하는 것도 너희가 위로와 구원을 받게 하려는 것이요 우리가 위로를 받는 것도 너희가 위로를 받게 하려는 것이니 이 위로가 너희 속에 역사하여 우리가 받는 것 같은 고난을 너희도 견디게 하느니라 7. 너희를 위한 우리의 소망이 견고함은 너희가 고난에 참여하는 자가 된 것 같이 위로에도 그러할 줄을 앎이라 8. 형제들아 우리가 아시아에서 당한 환난을 너희가 모르기를 원하지 아니하노니 힘에 겹도록 심한 고난을 당하여 살 소망까지 끊어지고

💙 COMFORT SHARED

 ✝  2 Corinthians 1:3 - 1:8 

“ We can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God. “
(2 CORINTHIANS 1:4)

When my daughter Hayley came to visit me, I saw her three-year-old son, Callum, wearing a strange piece of clothing. 
Called a ScratchMeNot, it’s a long-sleeved top with mittens attached to the sleeves. My grandson Callum suffers from chronic eczema, a skin disease that makes his skin itch, making it rough and sore. 
“The ScratchMeNot prevents Callum from scratching and injuring his skin,” Hayley explained.

Seven months later, Hayley’s skin flared up, and she couldn’t stop scratching. “I now understand what Callum endures,” Hayley confessed to me. “Maybe I should wear a ScratchMeNot!” 

Hayley’s situation reminded me of 2 Corinthians 1:3-5, in which Paul says that our God is “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. For just as we share abundantly in the sufferings of Christ, so also our comfort abounds through Christ.”

Sometimes God allows us to go through trying times such as an illness, loss, or crisis. He teaches us through our suffering to appreciate the greatest suffering that Christ went through on our behalf on the cross. 

In turn, when we rely on Him for comfort and strength, we’re able to comfort and encourage others in their suffering. Let’s reflect on whom we can extend comfort because of what God has brought us through.  GOH BEE LEE

Whom has God helped you to comfort through your own experiences of suffering ? 
What can you do to help them appreciate Christ ’s suffering on the cross through their pain?
 
<God, help me to experience Your comfort in my sufferings and to become a source of comfort to others.>

3. Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, 4. 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. 5. For just as the sufferings of Christ flow over into our lives, so also through Christ our comfort overflows. 6. If we are distressed, it is for your comfort and salvation; if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you patient endurance of the same sufferings we suffer. 7. And our hope for you is firm, because we know that just as you share in our sufferings, so also you share in our comfort. 8. We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about the hardships we suffered in the province of Asia. We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired even of life.