Have you ever wondered where Paul Got the idea expressed in 2Corinthians 1:3-4?
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, 4 who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.

The principle here is so amazingly true. I was crushed by a Jeep nearly losing my left leg and weeks later I get a call to visit a man in the hospital who had almost just lost his in a motorcycle accident.

I did 200 interviews at the Association of Christian Counselors a few years ago and God gave me the question to lead each interview with. “In 2 Corinthians Paul tells us the God of all comfort comforted us so that we may be able to comfort others with that comfort, how does that play out in your ministry?” 198 of the 200 bared their souls with stories of comfort I will never forget.

Like a Psychiatrist who told me he had gone insane, and he had just been married a few months, he was sure Satan was the little red light on the wall across from his bed.

That’s when his wife sat down beside him and said, “I can’t live with out you and I don’t know where you have gone, please, please show me how to get to where you are, if I need to go insane to get there show me the way!”

The Psychiatrist shared that those were Jesus words straight to his heart and from there he fought back to reality. Now he helps other fight back to reality, amazing.And, that was just one of those stories, I bet you have many.

So where did Paul get this understanding, which I am also sure cam from the Holy Spirit. I began to ponder and I began a treasure hunt, that lead me to Isaiah 40:1 through the end of the chapter where you raise up on Eagle wings… but begins with “Comfort Ye, Comfort Ye my people”. Then in verse 3: A voice cries:[b
“In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord;
    make straight in the desert a highway for our God.

A few months ago I saw a series on Exodus at Peace Church in Durham, where they described the wilderness as a place where you are dependent on God. You need water, you had better sing to a Rock, food, well some Mana would be awesome and a little quail on the side. Yes a place of complete God dependence.

Do you see the connection? When were you completely reliant on God, when He comforted you. If you know Christ the biggest and best is from your sin. Now you too, (I understand this is the John the Baptist Prophesy), can be the voice of the one calling from the wilderness. The Good News the Gospel described in Isaiah 40:9. Yes with the comfort God comforted you with.

There is at least one more amazing Jewel in this treasure hunt and here is where I get the road connection, as did John Bunyan and many others, Life is a Highway the Kings Highway. That word “wilderness” in Hebrew is “midbar” Strongs H4057: carries with it the sense of the path to the pasture. That is the King’s Highway, the tracks of the sheep in Song of Songs 1:8 or the ancient paths from Jeremiah 6:16 we are to ask for. The voice of one calling on the Road to the celestial city to see Jesus face and the power from our testimony, Act 1:8 is the same comfort from 2 Cor 1:3-4 that we can now comfort the lost sheep with, how cool is that?