2 Corinthians 1:3-4 | God of Comfort
2 Corinthians 1:3-4 ESV says, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.”
It is such a beautiful thing to watch as the Holy Spirit brings his comfort to a restless soul. It is like a gentle rain, a warm embrace, an encouraging word. This verse gives us a window into the heart of God as our Comforter.
We all need a comforter, and God’s promise goes hand-in-hand with the call to give our lives to the mission. If you read on in this first chapter of 2 Corinthians, Paul describes the hardships he and his partners faced in ministry, but he gives testimony to the goodness and faithfulness of God.
I wonder if you are facing a hardship? It could be another level of healing that God is walking you through (because recovery can be painful). It could be a challenge you are struggling to overcome. You name it.
Would you put it before the Lord this morning? Be brave enough to place that concern or challenge in your hands and offer it up to him in humility, saying, “I need your help to figure this out!” Perhaps you want to do exactly that. Physical postures are very useful in getting our hearts to align with the truth. Maybe you are ready to pause, put your hands open before the Lord, and release that challenge to him.
I want to remind you that in exchange for the burden, God wants to give you his spirit of comfort. How good and generous is our God? He desires that we would never be alone but that we would be filled with the closeness of his presence and all the power and resource that flows from his glory. In other words, he wants to give us everything we need to live in freedom, not in a secondhand delivery, but by being one with us.
This is perhaps the most anti-religious proposition you can make. It is not enough for God to merely give us the tools for freedom. He is so bent on love and connection that he shows up in our lives with a promise to abide.
This morning I cannot get away from how radical and unprecedented that invitation is. It is enough to think that God would want to give me the gift of comfort, but that could come through any secondary means. Instead, the comfort God offers is himself.
God gives us his everything because he loves us. He is a perfect Father who knows what his kids need.
Rest in his love. Rest in his comfort. Come and abide.
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