Craig Smith • Pain and People • May 14, 2023

No one should suffer alone…

If one falls down, his friend can help him up. But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up! (Eccl. 4:10)

God’s

to us in personal pain is a

Reveal Answer

of godly friends…

Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. (Gal. 6:2)

Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. (Rom. 12:15)

The friend to be and have when dealing with pain…

• The

**friend to

Reveal Answer

– “If someone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you.” (Matt. 5:41-42)

• The

friend to

Reveal Answer

– “Then Job replied, ‘Listen carefully to my words; let this be the consolation you give me. Bear with me while I speak, and after I have spoken, mock on.” (Job 21:1-3)

• The

friend to

Reveal Answer

– “The purposes of a man’s heart are deep waters, but a man of understanding draws them out.” (Prov. 20:5)

• The

friend to

Reveal Answer

– “…so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.” (1 Cor. 12:25-26)

• The

friend to

Reveal Answer

– “A man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.” (Prov. 18:24)

Comfort in my pain

Reveal Answer

me to comfort

Reveal Answer

in yours – “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God.” (2 Cor. 1:3-4)

But God, who comforts the downcast, comforted us by the coming of Titus, and not only by his coming but also by the comfort you had given him. (2 Cor. 7:6-7a)