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. 

I Corinthians 1:3, 4

What is the Spirit of the Lord saying?  As I see it, first, followers of Jesus will suffer.  Their commitment to God will result in some kinds of trouble. The Word of God, Old and New Testaments, assume that the followers of God will face troubles.  Is this not the theme that runs through the entire story?  So the point is not, “follow Jesus and your troubles on earth are over.”  No, following the suffering Christ will mean suffering for us.

What is the way of Jesus in this?  I think it is something like this, “the Father of compassion comforts those who will follow Him.”  They definitely need comforting – it is theirs by the grace of God.  That comforting they receive enables them to comfort others around them who need such comfort.

This is a view of what it means to follow Jesus in any age, even ours.  I would like to have an easy, trouble-free walk in the world as a follower of Jesus.  I discover that Jesus knew what suffering means for he himself suffered that I and you might live.

In summary, we discover that our comforting comes from God.  So, while receiving this comfort we comfort others with that same comforting spirit.