Wisdom tells us that before we judge someone we should “walk a mile in their shoes.” It is difficult to make an accurate judgment without comprehending another’s situation in some detail. Less often welcomed is the need to walk a mile in someone’s shoes before we can comfort them. Since we often avoid difficulty and suffering at all costs, the comfort we offer can seem thin or shallow. We haven’t suffered, so we can’t comfort.

In his second letter to the Corinthians, Paul offers a different perspective on the suffering he endured. He suggested that suffering has a purpose. As an apostle and messenger of the gospel, Paul, as well his coworkers, suffered greatly. But he had learned that his sufferings enabled him to comfort others who suffer (v. 4). Amid his difficulties, Paul had enjoyed the comfort of God, and this positioned him to comfort others.

Paul’s sufferings were indeed like Christ’s. He suffered on our behalf. He endured so that we could learn how to endure. He received the comfort of God (Matt. 4:11; Luke 22:43) so he could comfort those who suffer (Matt. 11:28). The writer of Hebrews called Jesus a sympathetic High Priest, able to understand because of what He endured (Heb. 4:15). Paul understood the comfort he received came from Christ who commissioned him and had suffered like him (v. 5).

The final step in this new perspective about suffering was to recognize that his sufferings were purposeful. Paul reasoned that he had endured distress so that his readers could be comforted (v. 6). If he received comfort, it was to comfort them. Rather than suggesting that suffering was a random experience, Paul reasoned there was a purpose for difficult experiences. They gave him a new ability!