April 8, 2019
COMFORT
A blanket on a cold day…or a ceiling fan on a warm one.
Hot tea with lemon to soothe a sore throat.
A teddy bear to ease the fears.
A prayer to calm an anxious heart.
COMFORT comes in all shapes and sizes because loss and fear and pain come in all shapes and sizes, too.
In New Testament Greek, the idea behind COMFORT is to call someone to come beside us.
Sometimes, all it takes is your presence: just knowing someone is there is enough to bring a little COMFORT, ease someone's pain, take the sharp edges off their grief, and encourage them to keep going.
In the Bible, mourners are COMFORTED, and fearful people are, too. We look to God for COMFORT—and God’s Spirit is with us as a COMFORTER (John 14:16). Sometimes, God’s COMFORT takes the form of immediate relief (like manna in the wilderness or a healing touch); other times, we can take COMFORT in the big-picture-view of things because, in the end, we know Who wins.
However COMFORT comes, once our hearts stop racing and our fears subside and the pain eases, God wants us to pass that COMFORT along.
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.
For just as we share abundantly in the sufferings of Christ,
so also our COMFORT abounds through Christ.
--2 Corinthians 1:3-5
How has God COMFORTED you lately?
How might God be inviting you to share that COMFORT with someone else?
COMFORT
A blanket on a cold day…or a ceiling fan on a warm one.
Hot tea with lemon to soothe a sore throat.
A teddy bear to ease the fears.
A prayer to calm an anxious heart.
COMFORT comes in all shapes and sizes because loss and fear and pain come in all shapes and sizes, too.
In New Testament Greek, the idea behind COMFORT is to call someone to come beside us.
Sometimes, all it takes is your presence: just knowing someone is there is enough to bring a little COMFORT, ease someone's pain, take the sharp edges off their grief, and encourage them to keep going.
In the Bible, mourners are COMFORTED, and fearful people are, too. We look to God for COMFORT—and God’s Spirit is with us as a COMFORTER (John 14:16). Sometimes, God’s COMFORT takes the form of immediate relief (like manna in the wilderness or a healing touch); other times, we can take COMFORT in the big-picture-view of things because, in the end, we know Who wins.
However COMFORT comes, once our hearts stop racing and our fears subside and the pain eases, God wants us to pass that COMFORT along.
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.
For just as we share abundantly in the sufferings of Christ,
so also our COMFORT abounds through Christ.
--2 Corinthians 1:3-5
How has God COMFORTED you lately?
How might God be inviting you to share that COMFORT with someone else?