The world can be a tough place sometimes…okay a lot of times. But that really should be no surprise by now! Jesus never told us we would get anything more from this world than trouble, but He did remind us that we can take it to heart that He has overcome the world. As believers, we walk by faith in a sight world…that can be uncomfortable. To trust the God we cannot see while we live in a world we can see is a challenge that stretches our faith and oftentimes goes against how we feel. Describing that as comfortable would not compute. But just because walking by faith isn’t necessarily comfortable, make no mistake about it that God wants you comforted!
Just before His crucifixion, knowing He would go away, Jesus told the disciples that they would not be left alone, but that the Holy Spirit would come. The Comforter. The Spirit of God is named the Comforter…think about that. And this Spirit would not just come upon us or show up sometimes, but live in us all the time, forever! We find comfort in knowing we are loved, secure, forgiven, accepted, made new, and free. No wonder the bible tells us that He is the God of all comfort, Who comforts us in all our trouble so that we can comfort others in any trouble. Because He lives in us, we are always being comforted! And because He lives through us, we can offer comfort to others.
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction so that we will be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.