12th September 2023

The God of all comfort

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.
2 Corinthians 1:3-4 (NIV)

I have restarted this musing four times now and have backed out looking to go in another direction, but I keep feeling called back again. This has been an unusually hard week for me. We all have hard times; we all need recognition and comfort. It is not so much being given a solution, a pep talk, or something else to focus on; we sometimes just need to be heard, felt, and acknowledged. Once that is done, we can pick ourselves up again and allow ourselves the time to grieve whatever that loss in our life has been. This can come in many forms; and so, I will leave you to fill in your own blank.

Troubles come in many forms; some we have earned by our own actions, and some just the result of the brokenness of this world, and time and chance. They all grieve us, disrupt our lives, and leave us feeling vulnerable. We can be like the worst sinner, as Paul stated of himself in 1 Timothy 1:15, or considered the most blameless and upright, such as mentioned in Job 1:1. We cannot forget the trials that Jesus went through, and he was righteous and sinless according to 2 Corinthians 5:21. If God is the God of all comfort, and he is, then who comforts him? This may seem a crazy question because God is all powerful, all knowing, and beyond our earthly weaknesses, Love is far from weak, and love is who he is, but that does not mean he cannot feel emotions. May our praise and love be his comfort as he comforts us.

I suppose, if I had a choice, I would choose to be free from pain and heartache. I do not remember God promising me this. We as parents know we can protect our children the best we know how, but it is not always possible. We had thought we had childproofed our home for our grandson. We had put these little plugs in the wall sockets, removed all cords, and kept an eye on him and his goings on. Till one day a slip of attention, and a sudden power flux, had brought reality to light. He had found keys and had wedged them on the side of the socket and past the plugs. Melted keys and a slight burn resulted, but he was okay. I praise God for this. If we are determined to get into trouble, we will find a way.

So, what could possibly be a good reason for our trials? We learn from them, we grow stronger. There comes a time when you just let your child realize what it means when you warn them the stove is hot. The Old Testament is a good picture of this. God warns his people repeatedly that sin leads to pain, suffering, and death. What mental pain we must put God through. Though God lets us go our own way, he does not toss us out with the trash. He, as with the prodigal son, waits for our return to him so that he may comfort us. He may not remove our pain, but he is the God of all comfort who weeps along with us. Experiencing our pain and sin, and wiping away our tears.

Prayer
Thank you, God, for loving us beyond our understanding and staying close by our side. In Jesus’s name, Amen.

Study by Anne Gillam

About the writer:
Anne Gillam is a retired Pastor in Grace Communion International, Klamath Falls, Oregon, USA.

Local congregation:
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