The God of all Comfort
Dear Church,
As I was mediating on difficult situations that some of my close friends and some Church people are going through, the Lord spoke to me about Him being the God of all comfort. A pastor friend in Sri Lanka has just discovered that his daughter who has been of unsound mind most of her life and who needs constant companionship has now been diagnosed with cancer and kidney issues being 40 yrs of age. Others in the Church and elsewhere are suffering various difficulties in life, some of which are seemingly unchangeable. To add to this, the world situation is going from bad to worse causing deep panic among governments of this world. The problems are abounding everywhere and many are finding it difficult in these troubled times to reconcile tgo themselves a God of love, peace and healing.
It is imperative to understand who our God is and know His ways. What God said to me was this. He is the God of comfort. By this He means that, though situations arise which seem beyond comprehension He is the one who can comfort us and give us peace. This peace that passes all understanding is not some ethereal distant unattainable peace but a peace that is able to penetrate our hearts and minds and assure us of God's goodness and absolute power to reconcile all matters to Himself.
Like this Pastor friend who is in grief because of his daughter, the question that is posed to him and us is; "Is God any less God because his daughter has an incurable disease? Or for that matter, just because the world has turned its back on God and gone its own way of doing things; does it make God impotent?" God asks, "Is my hand shortened?"
What God is offering all of us including my Pastor friend is comfort and peace at a time when it is difficult to comprehend situations in life that come upon us suddenly. This comfort eliminates our inability to control world situations and other things that happen to us at a time when it seems God is silent. Though the times may be very distressing to us, we must dig deep into the soil of God's foundation that is Jesus and understand that when we are rooted and grounded in the love of Jesus, we cannot be shaken. So the question is; "How do we reconcile our situation?" The answer is, by accepting God's solution of peace and comfort for what we were not able to know beforehand and change. Once we accept this, we can move forward into believing for healing and restoration for our lives. To add to this, there comes a strengthening, a resolve if you would like, to say to ourselves we shall not be moved. When we put our trust in Him, He is able to deliver us.
Our journey must be through suffering and through many unexplained circumstances in life even though we may be righteous in His sight. The Bible teaches that the afflictions of the righteous are many but God delivers the righteous out of all their afflictions. This is the promise. When we can let that promise sink
into our thinking and actions in times of trouble we will see our deliverance from the hand of the enemy and circumstances that are beyond our control.
On Friday, we had a healing meeting. One person was healed outright and others believed for their healing. We as a Church want to move more in healing and miracles. This involves setting people free from all manners of difficulties in life to produce solutions of favour and abundance in their lives. Mere healing and restoration is insufficient. One must keep what they fought so hard to win and then go through to abundance. We know we have an enemy the devil who wants to steal, kill and destroy. Rather than focus on his aims in our lives, let us know our enemy and also know our Saviour. It says in John 10.10, Jesus came to give life and life more abundantly. Let us focus on this abundant life and not on the circumstances. It is easier to be discouraged than encouraged because God does not often meet our standard of thinking and expectation. His ways are not our ways. This is the bottom line.
The God of comfort however gives us His answer in this way. I give you the peace and comfort for what you could not prevent and I give you the power to overcome what you are now facing. Jesus could not prevent the cross but for the joy that was set before Him, He endured the cross for our salvation. Our salvation is a package deal of eternal life, health, prosperity, soundness of mind and security. This is available to us in this life time irrespective of circumstances that are occurring in this world at this very present time. What God is saying to us is; "You can have this package if you believe". By believing and practising our faith so that this salvation package outworks itself in our lives on a daily basis, we can prevent a lot of sudden things happening in our lives. Faith is the key to knowing and understanding God. Praying and seeking God for revelation and understanding and speaking in tongues are aspects of faith that outwork the salvation package.
I encourage you not to look at your circumstance but to work out your salvation with God in fear and trembling knowing that He is the Almighty God and He knows what He is doing. Even though you may have evidence of His silence in your most difficult times, He gives you comfort to accept what you could not stop for whatever reason that may be. Even death is only a doorway to being with God for those who believe. Be assured, God is not mocked by what the devil does. He is in control and will do all that is necessary. I love what Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-Nego said to King Nebuchadnezzar when they were threatened with death by fire. They said; "Whether God delivers us or not, we shall not bow down and worship your image".
To me, this is the true essence of faith. It is called "abandonment" to God. You have to leave your comfort zones to accept His comfort for your life. He saved us while we were sinners, if He can do that, He can also save us when we are righteous.
With love - Pastor Noble
May 2014