The Comfort only God Can Give
(NIV) Isaiah 43:1 Do not fear, for I have redeemed you;
I have summoned you by name; you are mine.
2 When you pass through the waters,
I will be with you;
and when you pass through the rivers,
they will not sweep over you.
When you walk through the fire,
you will not be burned;
the flames will not set you ablaze.
3 For I am the LORD your God,
the Holy One of Israel, your Savior;
(NIV) 1 Cor 1:3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, 4 who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God. 5 For just as we share abundantly in the sufferings of Christ, so also our comfort abounds through Christ. 6 If we are distressed, it is for your comfort and salvation; if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you patient endurance of the same sufferings we suffer. 7 And our hope for you is firm, because we know that just as you share in our sufferings, so also you share in our comfort.
There is not one among us who has escaped suffering, but there is one thing I know, understand, and believe—the God Who gave His only son to redeem me loves me, He will never forsake me, and He will give me a supernatural peace in all things.
How can that be, you might ask. I am going through the worst time in my life and I feel God has abandoned me. Allow me to remind you we cannot rely on what we feel, but instead on “…every word that proceeds from the mouth of God,” Matt 4:4.
We used to sing the following chorus:
“God is so good, God is so good. God is so good, He’s so good to me.”
I will tell you my voice is shot and I can no longer sing, yet I still sing praises to my Lord and Savior. Even if you cannot “carry a tune in a bucket” as they used to say, God loves to hear the praises of His children. And, my sisters and brothers in Christ, the more we praise Him, the more we want to praise Him.
May we focus not on the problem but the solution, having the confidence that even if we are not delivered from our present difficulties, God can and will lift our spirits and give us peace. And, we can then share the comfort we have received with others.
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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