Being That Kind of Person

My fellow prisoner Aristarchus sends you his greetings,
as does Mark, the cousin of Barnabas . . . Jesus, who is called
Justus, also sends greetings. These are the only Jews among
my fellow workers for the kingdom of God, and they
have proved a comfort to me.
—Colossians 4:10–11

Paul wrote of certain friends who, he said, “have proved a comfort to me.”
The word comfort is an unusual word, a medical term Paul may have
picked up from his good friend Dr. Luke. This is the only place it occurs in
the New Testament.

In Paul’s day the verb comfort meant “to alleviate pain.” We get the archaic
term paregoric from it, a word my mother used to apply to some mysterious
and wondrous potion in our medicine chest.

Paul couldn’t have used a better word. What could be more encouraging
than to know that there are people like that: men and women who alleviate
and mitigate our pain?

Pain is one of the necessities of life. No one evades it. Physical discomfort
is hard to bear, but it seems to me that the greatest pain comes from
the heart: the pain of weakness and shame; the pain of misunderstanding,
criticism, and accusation; the pain of deferred hope, disillusionment, and
abandoned dreams; the pain of lonely isolation.

Unfortunately there are those sincere but much too certain people who
only add to our pain. Like Job’s comforters, they talk too much and have a
reason for everything that comes our way. They leave us more uncomfortable
than before.

On the other hand, there are those good and honest souls who, like Paul’s
friends, alleviate our pain. Often they’re simple, humble people, not in the
least important or distinguished, yet somehow, in the wear and tear of life,
they always find a way to reduce our discomfort. It’s not that they say very
much; it’s just that they’re there and care and listen well and pray. Most times
that’s all a body needs.

At other times it’s the way they bear their own pain. Their sorrow, endured
in simple faith, helps us to bear ours. Their affliction, endured courageously,
helps us to be a little braver.

Often they’re not even aware of the comfort they bring to us. They’re unconscious
of any effect because they aren’t trying to have an effect. They’re
just being what they are—a comfort.

You say, “I’d like to be that kind of person.” Not to worry. If you’re spending
time in devotion to God and growing toward likeness to Him, you will be
a comfort to others whether you know it or not. It’s not something you try to
do. It’s something that happens when you’re hiding yourself in Him.

It may be that someday someone will write you a letter as Paul did and
say, “You were a comfort to me.” Maybe not. Some folks never think to tell
you what you’ve done for them or thank you for your consolation. But God
knows, and that’s all that matters.

Taken from Seeing God, © 2006 by David Roper. Used by permission of Discovery House Publishers, Box 3566, Grand Rapids MI 4950l. All rights reserved.