A God of Comfort

Posted on May 31, 2016 by Graeme Wilson in Victory Call

Loss – it’s a part of life that we all dread, but unfortunately, it’s unavoidable. When I was 15, I lost my Aunt Dot. Now, she wasn’t actually related to me by blood, she was my great-grandmother’s best friend since the time they were pre-teens. I started getting close with my 90-something-year old Aunt Dot from the time I was about 13 on, which is probably very uncharacteristic for a young teenage girl, but she meant so much to me.

I just recently moved to a new apartment and had different boxes of house decorations waiting to be put up. Most of these decorations belonged to my Aunt Dot – the Bible my great-grandmother gave her, her old-fashioned dancing figurines, different wall ornaments that she knit, etc. The other day, I was driving down the road and thought about how I needed to put her tchotchkes up, and I just lost it. I was crying during my entire drive. I know it’s been almost 6 years since she’s passed, but I still miss her so much. I just remembered how she would teach tap dancing steps in my mother’s kitchen when she was 91 years old, how we would play cards in her assisted living home, or how she would tell me stories about my great-grandmother and her from when they were children. She was so wonderful.

How great is it, though, that we have a God who is so concerned about us, that loves us so much, that He would comfort us while we are hurting?

2 Corinthians 1:3-4  “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.”

Isaiah 41:10  “So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God.  I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”

If we put it into perspective, in the grand scheme of all God has created, we’re so small and we sin against Him constantly. There’s a song I love from Casting Crowns called “Who Am I?” and the lyrics are so powerful.

Who am I?
That the Lord of all the earth
Would care to know my name?
Would care to feel my hurt?

    Though the Lord is so big and our hurts can be seen as small in the grand scheme of things, His love is unfailing and He loves us so much that He comforts us and grants us His peace. Isn’t that so humbling? He is such an awesome God.
His comfort doesn’t just stop there either – it’s so great to think that while we face struggles here on earth, there will be a day where there will be no more tears, no more death, no more crying, no more mourning, no more pain. He will wipe that all away (Revelation 21:4). So where pain is great, comfort is all the greater. Where sadness seems to overtake us, God’s love and mercy will overtake us all the more. There is always a light at the end of the tunnel for Christians, and the joy in knowing that the pain we feel here on earth is as bad as it will ever get

Erin

Erin Culleny serves as a Marketing Assistant and Staff Writer. She had served on Summer Staff since 2011, and this past summer had the unique opportunity of co-directing Children’s Ministry with one of her best friends. She is very excited to continue to build relationships with the guests and be very involved in the ministry.