Praise God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! The Father is a merciful God, who always gives us comfort. He comforts us when we are in trouble, so that we can share that same comfort with others in trouble.
Scripture taken from the Contemporary English Version © 1991,1992, 1995 by American Bible Society, Used by Permission.
I recently attended the funeral of a friend who died suddenly at the age of 63. This man was an only child who moved to California as an adult and built a career there as a landscape architect. I only saw him in later life on occasions when he would return to visit his mother, who has been a friend of mine since I was a little girl. This woman is probably somewhere close to 90 now, and in failing health. She was absolutely devastated to lose her only son, and it broke my heart to see her so distraught at the funeral.
I have no firsthand knowledge of the profound grief that comes from losing a child. But I’ve witnessed it firsthand…my mother, my grandmother, the mothers and fathers of dear childhood friends, and even close friends about our age whose teenage son died in a car crash. As I hugged this woman and tried to offer her some semblance of comfort, I thought of my then-87-year-old grandmother and recalled how devastated she was when my dad passed away – also at age 63. This woman is probably about the same age as my grandmother was then. Remembering how God sent others to minister to us in our own grief, I felt confident in reassuring her that God would comfort her, too. I believe that God reminded me of things that comforted my own grandmother in her grief…and showed me how to offer consolation to this friend in the same manner.
Like most 56-year-olds, I have experienced troubles in my lifetime…but I know many people who have endured far worse – and lived to tell about it! Over and again, I have seen how God has given comfort to those in trouble…and used them to encourage and console many who are placed in their path. There are two things that I have taken away from my own experiences:
- I firmly believe that God will place people in your path to whom you can offer His grace, mercy, encouragement, comfort and compassion. OUR JOB is to be open and obedient to share out of our own life events…to demonstrate to others how God helped us…and to offer this same help to them in His name.
- I also believe that ANYONE who calls on God for help and comfort will receive it. You may not feel like He answers in the way you desired. You may think that God’s timing is slow or that He has allowed you to suffer too much. But the bottom line is that God is truly a “merciful God, who always gives us comfort”. God will never leave you…and when you call on Him for help, He will answer.
Take stock of your own life. Ask God to show you where you have experienced something that could aid you in comforting or encouraging someone else. Use your life events to offer compassion and hope to others. “Show and tell” them what God has done in your life – and assure them that He offers these same helps and blessings to them.
God never wastes an experience…and we shouldn’t either! How is he leading you to encourage or comfort someone today? Will you answer the call?
©2014 Debbie Robus
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