Perhaps you are familiar with the term “consolation prize,” the term frequently used designate an award of minor or lesser value than first prize. The consolation prize is given to the losers in the completion, the runners-up who finished behind the winner. Well, today I want to encourage you with a completely different kind of consolation prize, which is given to the people of God — every every last one of them, including you!
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 all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God. For just as the sufferings of Christ flow over into our lives, so also through Christ our comfort overflows. 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. 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. (2 Corinthians 1:3-7)
If you take even a cursory glance through the passage above, one word jumps right off the page: comfort. A word that is synonymous with this word comfort is consolation, which appears four times in the New King James Version’s rendering of 2 Corinthians 1:3-7. So it is plain to see that the Christian is given a Cosmic Consolation Prize that is wholly other from anything offered in this world. It is not for the loser . . . It is not for the runner up . . . It is for every child of God. It is the cosmic consolation given to every Christian every moment of every day.
Jesus is our Consolation — our Everlasting Consolation — and He gives His consolation to every one of His disciples. Our Consolation comes to us in times of trouble. Our Consolation comes to us in seasons of suffering. Our Consolation comes to us in the darkness of distress. And as He delivers His consolation to us — all of us — we begin to grow in His grace and in the patient endurance that helps us endure trouble, suffering, and deep distress. AND His consolation equips us to minister to others who need consolation.
Another way to look at this Cosmic Consolation would be to say that everyone on Team Jesus is a winner. There is no “runner-up trophy,” no consolation prize given for second place, and no one finishes in last place. Everyone who has trusted in our Lord’s atoning work on the cross receives this Cosmic Consolation, simply by virtue of our union with Him.
So remember, whatever it is you are facing today . . .
- Trouble at the office
- Difficulties in your marriage
- Parenting a prodigal
- Fragile friendship
- Less than perfect health
- Financial shortfall
. . . Look to the One who is with you in all that you face, knowing this truth: Greater is the power (consolation) that is in you than any power that can come against you. Jesus promised to send “another Helper” (John 14:16), the Holy Spirit, our Cosmic Consolation, to walk with you and in you. He has never let you down in the past and He never will. You have His Word on that!
This is the Gospel. This is grace for your race. NEVER FORGET THAT…AMEN!
Grace for the Race 