Thoughts on 2 Corinthians 1: God is for you.

I opened my GNT to 2 Corinthians 1 today. "Blessed is the God and Father of our Owner Jesus Christ, the Father of compassionate actions and God of every advocacy, who advocates for us upon every one of our afflictions for us to be able to advocate for those in every one of their afflictions through the advocacy with which we are advocated for by God. Because just like the sufferings of the Christ overflow into us, so through the Christ this advocacy of ours also overflows. Yet either we are squeezed from the pressure over your advocacy and deliverance; or we are advocated for, over your advocacy which is energized with the endurance of their sufferings which we also suffer. And our hope for you is stable and secured having seen that in the same way you are in communion with these sufferings, so also with the advocacy."
     The word which I have translated as advocacy is "paraklesis" and its cognate "parakaleo." Literally, "parakaleo" means "to call someone to the witness stand to testify on your behalf," or "to invoke a witness for the defense." The word which I have translated as "compassionate action," "oiktirmos," literally means "pity, mercy, compassion," and all of its cognates have to do with taking pity on someone who is in a bad way.
     The first thing which comes to my mind in this is that God is on our side. God will bring Himself to be our friend who not only encourages us, but will actively go to bat for us when we're in a tight squeeze (literally what the word for "affliction" means). And through His advocacy for us, we are able to advocate for, go to bat for others who are in a tight squeeze. To be identified with Jesus Christ is also to be identified with His "pathema," a word which can be translated as "suffering" but also "emotion, affection, or feelings." To live or walk by the Spirit of Christ is to be in communion with Christ's feelings and emotions as well. This includes both His positive feelings as well as His negative ones. As just as we are in communion with His negative feelings, His sufferings, so also we are in communion with the Father's advocacy through Him, His consolation, encouragement, and going to bat for us.
     But the chief takeaway here is that God is on our side and will go to bat for us through the Spirit of Christ. Mercy, compassion, and that love which has no boundaries is who He is as a Person. He's rooting for us to succeed, and wanting us to win the race each one of us is running. God is for us, each and every one of us. And the person who is most against us, really, is we ourselves as we trip ourselves up. Our competition, our struggle, is against ourselves first and foremost as we fight to submit to the Spirit of Christ and walk in Him, remaining in and making our home in Him.
     The Founder and Foundation, the Source of all existence wants you to succeed in the Way which He laid out through Jesus Christ. He is on your side. He speaks your language even when no one else seems to understand you and He will go to bat for you. And in His going to bat for you, He enables you to go to bat for others, to have pity, mercy, and compassion for those around you.
     God is not against you. Don't be against Him.