Never forget in the light what you learn in the darkness.

我们在一切患难中，祂就安慰我们，叫我们能用上帝所赐的安慰去安慰那遭各样患难的人。-哥林多后书1章4节

有时候，人生的旅程极度艰难，让我们无法承受，黑暗似乎没有尽头。我们家也曾面临这样困难的景况，那时我的妻子在一天早上的灵修时，有了这样的领受：上帝要我们在顺境时，仍然谨记在此逆境中所学到的功课。

保罗描述他和同工们在亚西亚所遭受的苦难之后，他对哥林多教会的信徒也有同样的教导（哥林多后书1章）。保罗要哥林多的信徒明白，即使在最艰难的时刻，上帝仍能拯救我们。他说，我们得了安慰，便能学习如何安慰他人（4节）。保罗和他的同工在患难中学习上帝所给他们的功课，以至他们能够安慰劝勉同样遭遇患难的哥林多信徒。我们若愿意顺服，上帝也会在我们身上做同样的工作。祂也不会让我们白白遭受患难，祂会使用我们在患难中所学的功课去帮助他人。

你正陷入困境中吗？愿你从保罗的教导和经历得激励！你要相信上帝此时正在指引你的脚步，祂也帮助你记住祂的真理，好让你能安慰那些和你有同样遭遇的人。你曾走过这患难的道路，所以你知道如何面对逆境。

Father, help those who are hurting today so they may see and know Your loving presence in their darkest hours.

1 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 receive from God. 5 For just as we share abundantly in the sufferings of Christ, so also our comfort abounds through Christ. 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 and sisters, about the troubles we experienced in the province of Asia. We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired of life itself. 9 Indeed, we felt we had received the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead. 10 He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us again. On him we have set our hope that he will continue to deliver us, 11 as you help us by your prayers. Then many will give thanks on our behalf for the gracious favor granted us in answer to the prayers of many.

哥林多后书 1:3-11

灵粮透视

The Greek word for comfort (paraklesis) means “to come alongside and help.” Jesus is called our parakletos (advocate) in 1 John 2:1. The Holy Spirit is another advocate or comforter (John 14:16–17). Paul asserts that God is “the God of all comfort” (2 Corinthians 1:3). The triune Godhead—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—is there with us in our pain. By saying God is the “Father of our Lord Jesus Christ” (vv. 2–3), Paul reminds us that coming alongside to help each other is a family duty and privilege (v. 4). To whom can you be a parakletos—a comforter—this coming week?

在这里翻译为“安慰”的希腊字（paraklesis），意思是“到身边来给予帮助”。约翰一书2章1节称耶稣为我们的“中保”（parakletos），意思是“被人求助的人”或“帮助者”，而圣灵是另一位帮助者或保惠师（约翰福音14章16-17节）。保罗宣称上帝是“赐各样安慰的上帝”（哥林多后书1章3节），在我们痛苦时，三位一体的上帝（圣父、圣子、圣灵）与我们同在。保罗说，上帝是“我们的主耶稣基督的父”（2-3节），就是提醒我们，我们都同为天父的儿女，所以彼此帮助乃是身为家人的责任和特权（4节）。在这一周里，你可以成为谁的帮助者和安慰者呢？

整理：于姊妹