Given my work in ministry, and given the state of this world and how there seems to be more suffering than ever before, I am continually crossing paths with people in great need of comfort. Right now, in fact, even as I write this, someone I love literally beyond measure is going through one of the greatest losses of her entire life. My heart breaks for her, my heart breaks for all those suffering, and I myself have gone through decades of seemingly relentless struggles including loss after loss after loss. Fortunately, I have come not only to discover the greatest comfort in the universe but also an amazingly beautiful and powerful aspect of it.
We humans can go all out trying to comfort others in their losses and various forms of suffering, and given God’s command to love one another well we should go to exceeding lengths in bringing comfort to our fellow humans. But the greatest comfort of all is the comfort from God almighty.
His love and comfort are incomparable, unfathomably wonderful, indescribably powerful, and supernaturally healing and restorative. When we turn to the Lord Jesus Christ, when we pour our hearts out to the Lord, when we cry out to God in prayer, when we spend time in His presence, when we read the Bible, we can receive an unimaginably lovely and tender and gentle and strong phenomenal comfort.
And the powerful and beautiful aspect of His comfort is this. God, who is the “God of all comfort”, desires that we take the comfort He gives us and give it unto others. We are to share His comfort with our fellow humans. We are to be used by God to spread His love and comfort.
“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 tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.” 2 Corinthians 1:3-4 NKJV
“Trust in Him at all times, you people; Pour out your heart before Him; God is a refuge for us…” Psalms 62:8 NKJV