God of All Comfort

2/22/15          Juan                    42

I initiated a conversation with Juan, who was washing his car windows on the other side of the gas pump, by giving him a “million dollar” gospel tract.  “It has a serious question on the other side – ‘Will you go to heaven?’  Is that something you think about much?”  “I’ve been thinking about it a lot lately” he answered.  “Going through some hard times?”  “Yeah, my father- he’s dying of cancer,”   We went on to talk about the brevity of life, and the fact that we will all die one day.  “I look in the mirror, and see more gray hair, and I see it as a friendly reminder that life is short, whether I die of a disease soon or of old age.  But the truth is we could die in an accident any day, tomorrow isn’t guaranteed”  “No, it’s not” Juan agreed, and we went on to talk about how we can be in a right relationship with God, both now in this life and as we enter into eternity.  Juan has had faith that his weekly attendance at mass and his good deeds might win favor with God; we talked about how faith in Jesus alone brings salvation.  I’m so glad that a tragic situation like Juan’s father’s cancer need not be a conversation stopper when it comes to sharing the Gospel.  In fact, even standing at a gas pump with a stranger, it gives us the opportunity to comfort others, like Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians: “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 receive from God. For just as we share abundantly in the sufferings of Christ, so also our comfort abounds through Christ.”