As I recovered, I received a call from a former pastor. It was too much to think about. Over the years, his question has led me to training in hospital ministry and hospital chaplaincy and, more recently, hospice chaplaincy. God is both the highest expression and the ultimate source of that heart of mercy or inward compassion that moves us to respond to the hopeless suffering of another person. In the same way, Paul suggests that all comfort ultimately finds its source in God.
Many today seek to provide compassion and comfort to others.
But their psychological and mystical approaches are no substitute for the heartfelt compassion and abiding comfort that comes from God. God has expressed both most clearly in the person of his Son. The ministry of true compassion and comfort is a distinctively Christian ministry and must be grounded in the person and work of the Savior. Without Christ and his perfect sacrifice, there would be no comfort for sinners. Paul tells us that it is God who comforts us in all our troubles.