“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and the God of all comfort. He comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any kind of affliction, through the comfort we ourselves receive from God.”
‭‭2 Corinthians‬ ‭1‬:‭3‬-‭4‬ ‭CSB‬‬

When I was a child, our church organized a summer program for the kids called Vacation Bible School. The name wasn’t great (who wants “school” in the summertime?!), but it was a lot of fun. Over the course of a week or so, our days were filled with games, crafts, singing, a few lessons, and of course snacks. The snacks of Kool-Aid and cookies (no one was too health-conscious back then) were simple, but after a sweaty game of kick-ball, they were eagerly anticipated.

In the interest of efficiency, all the kids were seated in groups at snack time. One child would be handed the entire allotment of cookies for that group. They were supposed to pass the container of cookies around so that everyone got one.

One day a new kid appeared at Vacation Bible School. She didn’t know the drill. When snack time rolled around, she was overjoyed to be handed so many cookies. She dove right in. Of course, this caused a riot with the other kids in our group until someone explained to her how the process was supposed to work.

She was given more than enough cookies so that she could divvy them out to the other kids who were also hot and hungry.

Like with the Cookie Incident, today’s Bible verse explains that God gives me comfort when I need it. More than enough. And He expects me to spread that comfort around. If I keep it all to myself, I’ll be bloated and no one will be happy. The hope of salvation, and the comfort that brings, is meant to be shared, not hoarded.

All God’s blessings work that way. Do I have food? Then I must help ensure others do too. Do I have a safe place to live? I must work toward ensuring that same security for others. Do I have medical care that I can afford? I need to do everything I can to see that other people do too.

God’s comfort is given because He loves me, but also so I can comfort others.

Dear God,

Thank you for all the ways you comfort me. Forgive me for being selfish and holding so tightly to your comfort. I know you comfort me because you love me. And I recognize your goal of comforting others through me. Show me what that means today. Show me specifically who you want me to comfort and how.