by Jacob Ninan
The God of the Bible is known for different characteristics. In the Old Testament, He demonstrated His holiness, righteousness, justice, impartiality, etc. But even in the midst of this, His love and mercy towards His people shone forth in the face of their continued rebellion towards Him. Some people think that the God we see in the New Testament is very different, with only love, mercy, compassion, etc., being manifested. But we must see God in His wholeness, with different aspects of His character showing according to the need of different situations. We must avoid making a caricature of God with only the parts we like about Him. That will not be a correct picture of Him. Even while we are going to focus on His giving us comfort, we must not lose sight of the big picture.
God is called the father of mercies and the God of all comfort (2Cor.1:3). This is not a God who keeps comforting us no matter what we do. For example, if we have sinned against Him, what we should experience before Him is a trembling, rather than comfort! But God does comfort the weary, the discouraged, the downtrodden, the struggling, etc., with a word (Isa.50:4).
We would have noticed many times, when we visit a home where they have lost a loved one, that many people comfort them not with advice, suggestions, pointing out what should have been done, etc., but simply by being there. Sometimes they also make themselves available, offering their help to the bereaved family. This is what God does many times for us. He stands with us and tells us how He understands what we are going through, and also encourages us by telling us that He will lead us through to a good end. But many times, thinking in a human way, we look for comfort in terms of our problems being taken away, and get disappointed when that does not happen.
David believed that even if he was on the verge of dying, just knowing that God was with Him was enough to comfort him (Psa.23:4).When we face death, the knowledge of how much money we have in the bank, how many things we have achieved in life or how many people will be attending our funeral is not what is going to give us strength but that God is standing with us. If we know that way, we know that we are safe with Him and that He has prepared a place for us.
When people in the early church in Thessalonica were wondering about death and the life afterwards, Paul encouraged them by telling that all those who were children of God and had already passed over to the other side of eternity were already safe with Christ. Those who were alive at the time of Jesus' return to earth would be caught up in the air to be with Him forever (1Th.4:13-18). Here again, the thing that Paul meant to comfort them with was the knowledge that the Lord would be with them and they with Him. When we recognise ourselves as being like sheep, not knowing what to do or where to go, we can take comfort in knowing that we have a Shepherd who is in charge of us and that all we need to know to get rid of our anxiety is to keep looking to Him.
There was a time when David who had been anointed to be king was running away from Saul who was not willing to hand over the kingdom. During this time, while David and his men were busy somewhere, the Amalekites came and carried away their wives, children and possessions. When the men came to know this, they were so angry with David that they even considered stoning him to death. When David had no one to stand with him, he strengthened himself with the Lord (1Sam.30:6). We can imagine how he would have done that. He would have recollected what all God had done for him earlier, all the promises He had given, etc., and that would have encouraged him to hope that God would still take care of him.
The Old Testament uses a word called 'Ebenezer' which many people use for a name. This means, "So far has the Lord helped us." Israel had a habit of using a pile of huge stones as a memorial after particularly miraculous ways in which the Lord had helped them. Ebenezer was the name given to one such stone. Many are used to blaming God for all the calamities that happen to them. Others blame their parents or someone else, instead of even trying to take responsibilities for their own actions. But we can look back at the miraculous ways through which He has delivered us from death, accidents, sicknesses, etc. We may be even able to see God's hand as having been upon us even before we came to know Him.
Many times it is just the remembrance of God's word that revives us (Psa.119:50). In it there are many promises for us, many narratives of how God has taken care of other people, etc. The more we meditate on the word of God, it becomes our spiritual food that nourishes and strengthens us.
But at the same time, we must remember that even a deep knowledge of the word is not really going to help us in practical situations unless we 'believe' them (Rom.15:13). It is possible that many Christians 'accept' verses in the Bible and even hang them on walls, but may not actually believe them as being true enough to live by! It is a lie of the Devil that makes people think that tangible physical things that can be touched and felt are 'facts' whereas spiritual things cannot be treated as facts. It is a fact that God is there, and likewise that Jesus died on the cross and rose again from the dead. It is a fact that if we repent from our sins and accept salvation from Jesus, we actually get saved. It is only when we believe such facts that we can be saved, and because we know they are facts, we can believe them!
We believe in the promises of God because it was He who gave them. He does not lie, bluff, joke around or take back His words. Knowing who it is that gave those promises, we can believe that He will fulfill them. When He has said that He would never leave us nor forsake us, those are 'facts' that we can rely on. So, when we believe them, we can receive His comfort in different situations.
Before we became children of God, the wrath of God rested on us just like on other people. But when He forgave our sins and accepted us as His children, we must believe that He is not angry with us any more (Isa.12:1). Knowing this helps us to recognise His presence with us and to receive His comfort.
Jesus said that those who mourn will be comforted (Matt.5:4). This is not about people mourning in self-pity for all the bad things that are happening to them. But those who mourn because of all the un-Christ-likeness that they find in themselves and cry out, "O wretched man that I am!" will receive comfort from God. Those who hunger and thirst after righteousness will be satisfied—with righteousness.
God told Israel that He would comfort them in just the same way as a mother comforts her children (Isa.66:13). The way of a mother is very special and very different from the way fathers deal with their children! Usually we think of how is a father to us, but here He is talking of comfort—giving us comfort as affectionately as a mother with her children.
After we have received our comfort from God, we become enabled to pass on that comfort to others around us (2Cor.1:3-7). In this way we can become more than conquerors—not only do we become conquerors, but we can enable others also to conquer. That is the direction God wants us to move in. May He grant all of us grace.