II Corinthians 1:7 “And our hope of you is stedfast, knowing, that as ye are partakers of the sufferings, so shall ye be also of the consolation.”
In this context, to console is to come alongside someone that is severely suffering and tenderly speak to them of the promises of our Merciful God. To console, we speak of such passages as, “It is of the LORD’S mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not.” (Lamentations 3:22). We can be close to someone and be loving and kind to them, but the “LORD’S … compassions fail not”; that is, our ability to console is limited, but our LORD is not limited as we are. He can pierce through the suffocating shroud of suffering, pain, fear, anguish, and hopelessness. When He does, His peace embraces us like a warm blanket on a bitterly cold day. As our quivering soul hears His Almighty Voice say, “Be still, and know that I am God” (Psalms 46:10), we are greatly comforted because God The Creator has now come alongside us and is now our sure and steadfast “consolation” – and we begin to personally experience the blessed truth that “greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world” (I John 4:4); then we can boldly proclaim, that victory has come, for my storm of suffering no longer has power over me!