When You Need the Source of Comfort, Hope, and Strength
How are you?
Is life peaceful and easy? Not so much?
Paul ended his letters to the Thessalonians with these words:
Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself and God our Father, who loved us and by His grace gave us eternal comfort and a wonderful hope, comfort you and strengthen you in every good thing you do and say. 2 Thessalonians 2:16-17
Do you need comfort? Hope? Strength?
The dictionary defines comfort as:
1. to give hope and strength
2. to ease grief or trouble
3. to soothe, console, or reassure
4. to help, support, or encourage
God, the Source, promises to comfort His children.
Even when I walk through the darkest valley, I will not be afraid, for you are close beside me. Your rod and your staff protect and comfort me. Psalm 23:4
All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is our merciful Father and the source of all comfort. 2 Corinthians 1:3
Your promise revives me; it comforts me in all my troubles. Psalm 119:50
Do you have days when you need more comfort, hope, and strength?
I know I do!
Days when I’m frightened, anxious, stress-filled, worried, hurting, or blind-sided by grief. Days when it’s hard to get out of bed?
Last Friday was one of those days. Anxiety came suddenly:
Rev and I were getting ready to head out to appointments when the phone rang. Our son, Josh, was calling from the hospital to tell us he was having an emergency appendectomy in about an hour.
Josh lives 1200 miles away from us. Recently moving to Albany, Georgia for work.
Wow, we felt every inch of those miles knowing he was there in a new community . . . alone.
Albany is the home of Sherwood Baptist Church. The church that has given us Flywheel, Courageous, Facing the Giants, Fireproof, and now—War Room.
Josh looks forward to making this his church home; so, I grabbed the phone and called.
One of the pastors listened kindly, assured me, and then went to the hospital to be with Josh following surgery. Later, he called to let us know he’d seen Josh and that he was doing well.
God provides and comforts. By the power of His Spirit and through the love, care, and actions of others.
He is faithful! Always keeping His promises like:
Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Matthew 11:28
“Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the Lord will personally go ahead of you. He will be with you; He will neither fail you nor abandon you.” Deuteronomy 31:8
For I hold you by your right hand—I, the Lord your God. And I say to you, ‘Don’t be afraid. I am here to help you. Isaiah 41:13
“I am leaving you with a gift—peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don’t be troubled or afraid. John 14:27
Who has God used to comfort you?
Isn’t is good to know—when you’re run over by life’s circumstances, your Heavenly Father is covering you with His grace. Offering you comfort, wonderful hope, and strength.
Today:
“Snuggle in God’s arms. When you are hurting, when you feel lonely, left out. let Him cradle you, comfort you, reassure you of His all-sufficient power and love.” ~Kay Arthur
Be comforted by His love, rejoice in His wonderful hope, and stand firm in His strength.
Photo Credit – BossFight.com
So glad you son is okay, Deb! Yes, I’m snuggling up with God today as I am back at my mother’s for another week. He knows I need his comfort and grace.
Blessings!
Thank you so much Martha. We are thankful he went to the Emergency Room and that God graciously saw him through this. Blessings on your time with your mom.
Oh goodness, praise that your son is okay. How hard that would be as a mother to know your son was alone. Love that you reached out, and were met with assurance and help when you did. Sounds like your son is headed into a great church home. Prayers for his new job. Thanks for sharing, today. So thankful for The Source! 🙂
Thank you Brenda. We feel the Lord sent Josh to Albany, and that the church is an important part of that move. We so cherish your prayers. Blessings to you!
Thanks for this, Deb. I’ve been reading in Thessalonians lately too, and Paul’s prayers for his spiritual children have been a real encouragement to me to pray for my kids in light of the spiritual blessings God wants to give them. I’m on a steep learning curve in the arena of prayer. Your words are an encouragement, as always.
Thank you Michelle, your comment blessed me. Always learning, growing, asking, seeking . . . that is the life of faith in grace. Glory to God!
Hey Deb,
Love this post on God being our comfort! And, glad to hear that your Josh is okay!
Thought this was so good that I tweeted it, “Isn’t is good to know—when you’re run over by life’s circumstances, your Heavenly Father is covering you with His grace. Offering you comfort, wonderful hope, and strength.”
So grateful for the grace and comfort of the Word and the Spirit. Grateful too for the way God uses friends to offer words of comfort.
Thank you for being a source of hope to me and to so many others. You are a blessing~
Hope you have a blessed day today~
Melanie
Thank you Melanie for your kind encouragement. God brought me through so much. A time when I thought I’d never be able to keep going. He is so good. He’s restored my hope. Sharing that hope of His love and grace is my joy! Blessings to you!
I’m so thankful your son is okay! My youngest is in college and just called yesterday saying he got hurt in football and is going to have to have surgery on his shoulder. “Don’t worry though Mom my trainer’s said they can do it here.” I struggled with it last night. I so want to be there as a mom.
I will snuggle up with God and trust Him to take care of my son too. Thanks so much for sharing this! I really needed it.
Oh, Laura . . . I will pray that he has successful surgery and quick healing. I will also pray that the Lord will bring peace to your momma’s heart. Blessings to you!
I love your timely and encouraging words, Deb! So glad your son is okay, too!
Thank you Clare. Blessings to you!
God used you to comfort me this evening through this blog post. :-)My anxiety level is higher than normal with a health issue; a car that just died and needing to get a new one asap; a situation next week that I have been fearful about going into; and the possibility of a huge life change.I found such peace when I read the definition of comfort and then your statement, “God, the Source, promises to comfort His children.” God is the answer to all the definition of comfort; Thank you for all of God’s promises you shared to demonstrate this.Oh what encouragement I found here this evening! Thank you!
WOW. What a fantastic testimony of God’s faithfulness and how he provides community no matter where we go. So glad your son was ok and had people around him.
Thanks for sharing this, Deb!
Glad your son was OK, I can only imagine how hard that would be to be away from your children when they are sick but what a blessing your church was! Thank you for sharing these encouraging words, I’m always so blessed reading your posts 🙂