by Robert Fudge

3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, 4 who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God. 5 For just as the sufferings of Christ flow over into our lives, so also through Christ our comfort overflows. 6 If we are distressed, it is for your comfort and salvation; if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you patient endurance of the same sufferings we suffer. 7 And our hope for you is firm, because we know that just as you share in our sufferings, so also you share in our comfort.

God is love. God is holy. God is just. God is jealous. God is merciful. God is gracious. God is compassionate. God is grieved. God is angry (when man sins). God is happy. God is dependable. God is truthful. God is all powerful. God is all knowing. God is all wise. We are made in the image of God and each of us can be described by these various traits at times. God is not just some of these some of the time but these describe His very nature all of the time. Thus one of the big differences in us and God is He is always consistent with His nature while we attempt to be but often fail.

God wants to comfort us in all our troubles. God is able to comfort us in all our troubles, He is the God of all comfort. Do we go to Him for our comfort? Some seek comfort in a bottle or in pills. Some seek comfort in staying busy. Some seek comfort from friendships. Some seek comfort from withdrawal from others. But how can we receive God’s comfort in our lives when we are truly troubled?

As the Psalmist David said in the beloved 23rd Psalm, “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.” “He restores my soul.” When we, like David, can truly believe that God is there for us and that He really does care about our needs we can begin to receive His comfort. The more we faithfully serve Him, the more He is there for us. Remember the words of James (4:8); “draw near to God and He will draw near to you.”

God loves each one of us – just were we are in life – even with our sin, our weakness, our troubles, our pain, our loneliness, our distress and anxieties, and even in our grief. Let’s each of us today show our love for God in the way we trust Him and His unfailing love. 1 John 4:10,"This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins."

We need to learn to open our hearts to God in prayer. One interesting thing about prayer is that the more we use it the more real we understand it to be. God really does care and God really does answer our prayer. It may not always be the way we ask or in the time frame we set for God, but He knows what is best and will provide it for us if we will just trust Him. My prayer for each of us today is that we will remember the words of Paul in Phil. 4:5 “The Lord is near.” (if you have opportunity, read Phil. 4:4-9)