The God of all Comfort

The more disciplined you try to be as a Christian, the more burdened down the devil will make us. You may give up and stop trusting Jesus. Don’t get discouraged to that point. Jesus tells us to expect this because following him goes against the grain of society and our own nature. The devil wants to discourage. It is tough serving the Lord and professing faith in Jesus Christ. Every generation since the beginning of the church has gone through it.

Here in this scripture Paul calls God the God of all comfort. Take note of the little words. It’s not a little comfort but all comfort. The farthest we go with comfort is a hug or pat on the back. Maybe we say a few words. We are capable of more because God can use us to show his comfort. When you go through something bad, the only person who can say “I know how you feel” is someone who’s gone through the same thing. Jesus did. He was pressed in the Garden of Gethsemane. That’s what the word Gethsemane means–olive press. The oil was squeezed out. We can feel squeezed and pressed, but thank God we serve a God of all comfort.

II Corinthians 1:3 Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort; 4 Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God.5 For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also boundeth by Christ. 6 And whether we be afflicted, it is for your consolation and salvation, which is effectual in the enduring of the same sufferings which we also suffer: or whether we be comforted, it is for your consolation and salvation. 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. 8 For we would not, brethren, have you ignorant of our trouble which came to us in Asia, that we were pressed out of measure, above strength, insomuch that we despaired even of life: 9 But we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God which raiseth the dead: 10 Who delivered us from so great a death, and doth deliver: in whom we trust that he will yet deliver us; 11 Ye also helping together by prayer for us, that for the gift bestowed upon us by the means of many persons thanks may be given by many on our behalf.

Everybody has this in common. Our goals and aims can be different but we all want comfort. We want to be settled in and content–comfortable. A person can have anything and everything but still not be comfortable. It’s easy to put on a smile but not really be okay. I think of all the celebrities who profess an image of comfortableness. They have no money worries. Then you read about their troubles. Some of them go through husbands and wives like I do a box of cookies. Their lives are upside down and they are miserable.

The only comfort is to know your heart is right with God. Comfort: we want to be worry free; we want to be problem free; we want to be devil free; we want to be trouble free. The Bible says that man born of woman is of few days and full of trouble. The only way to have all that is to be dead–in Christ. Otherwise, dead in sin is to die in your sin. In the midst of all we go through we can be free in our heart. We have a Savior. We have a Father who notices when a bird falls to the ground. If he knows this, then how much more does he know what we go through. He’s not a God of empty promises. He’s real help in the time of need.

What type of help do you need? In any trouble, we have the same help. Read all these verses again. Verse 4 uses the word comfort four times and in every which way. We can have help by the same help we have received before. It’s from the God of all comfort, a real, satisfying, help from One who can make us comfortable no matter what. If our journey takes us through the fire, if you feel squeezed like Paul was in verse 8, you can trust the Lord like he did.

Being a Christian is not an easy chair all the way to heaven. Think you can handle it all? Some think they can do it all through self-help or chanting. These things help only a little. They don’t bring comfort in the inner being. You can’t get that by yourself. It’s through God. If he can raise the dead he can comfort you. He is able to deliver and give a peace in the soul and mind. Why? God is the Father of Jesus Christ. You have to see Jesus as more. He’s not a created son of God; he is God in the flesh. Jesus is the only Messiah ever sent to help us. I can’t explain it completely; I just trust him. The source of problems is sin and Jesus took that sin and destroyed the works of the devil. If he’s able to exalt his son, God can bring us through. Because we trust him he’s our Father too.

Does he care that much? Absolutely!  How many of us really appreciate what our parents did for us? How much more thanks should go to our heavenly Father? If not for his mercy, we’d be in hell. Through mercy he called on me and I was saved. I fail the Lord every day. I’m just old Bob who has been saved by the mercy and grace of God. He’s the Father of Mercy.

What mercy do you need? Call on him. That’s why he’s the God of all comfort, for whatever the heart, mind, and soul goes through. For whatever circumstances are around, he is the God of all comfort. We need him. He has delivered. He does deliver. He will deliver.