“I am sending him to you for this very purpose, that he may know your circumstances and comfort your hearts.”
“I am sending him [Tychius] to you for this very purpose”
Paul’s purpose was to have mutual concern for the Colossians as they had for him.
“that he may know your circumstances”
To comfort others, we need to know their situation. Tychius needed to discover how the Colossians faired; he was to find out how mature they were in their faith.
“and comfort your hearts”
Tychicus was a heart specialist. He had the capacity to comfort others. The parallel passage in Ephesians 6:21,22 says the same thing.
Comfort is a specialty of the Holy Spirit as well,
“Then the churches throughout all Judea, Galilee, and Samaria had peace and were edified. And walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, they were multiplied” (Acts 9:31).
“And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever— 17 “the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you. 18 “I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you” (Jn 14:16-18).
“My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. 2 And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world” (1 John 2:1,2).
There is another source of comfort for the Christian – the Word of God:
“For whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope” (Romans 15:4).
“Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. 18 Therefore comfort one another with these words” (1 Thes. 4:17,18).
Paul sent Tychicus to Colosse to minister to hearts, their total persons, not only their heads. Paul does not write, “When Tychicus comes, he will only inspire your minds.”
Principle:
God wants us to comfort others as He also does through the Holy Spirit and the Word.
Application:
When we become discouraged, it is our hearts that need comfort. God will put someone in our path to encourage us when we need it.
Has God given you the gift of encouragement? Maybe God is putting people in your path to be an encouragement to them. They may need a warm handshake or a cup of coffee. Someone else may need help during a time of grief. Others may need you to take care of their children during a crisis. Are you that cold drink of water on a hot day?
God will also comfort with the Holy Spirit and Scripture.
