The God of comfort

Our troubles seem overwhelming. Our hearts are broken and we are weighed down with grief. Even in this process God is at work. He is preparing us for some future ministry of comforting those who have similar trials (2Co 1:4-6). In the midst of the struggle this seems like cold comfort. Why must my family be ravaged to equip me to comfort another? I guess the only way we truly learn is through pain. Consider Him who endured such hostility by sinners against himself, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart (Heb 12:3).