_THE BENEFITTED AS BENEFACTORS_
"_Who comforteth us ... that we may be able to comfort._"
--2 CORINTHIANS i. 3-7.
And how does the Lord comfort us? He has a thousand different ways, and no
one can ever tell by what way the comfort will come to his soul. Sometimes
it comes by the door of memory, and sometimes by the door of hope.
Sometimes it is borne to us through the ministry of nature, and at other
times through the ministry of human speech and kindness. But always, I
think, it brings us the sense of a Presence, as though we had a great
Friend in the room, and the troubled heart gains quietness and peace. The
mist clears a little, and we have a restful assurance of our God.
Now comforted souls are to be comforters. They who have received benefits
of grace are to be benefactors. They who have heard the sweet music of
God's abiding love are to sing it again to others. They who have seen the
glory are to become evangelists. We must not seek to hoard spiritual
treasure. As soon as we lock it up we begin to lose it. A mysterious moth
and rust take it away. If we do not comfort others, our own comfort will
turn again to bitterness; the clouds will lower and we shall be imprisoned
in the old woe. But the comfort which makes a comforter grows deeper and
richer every day.