Finding Comfort When Times Are Uncomfortable

My Utmost For His Highest

Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me… —Matthew 11:29

“…the joy of the Lord is your strength” (Nehemiah 8:10). Where do the saints get their joy? If we did not know some Christians well, we might think from just observing them that they have no burdens at all to bear. […] The fact that the peace, light, and joy of God is in them is proof that a burden is there as well. The burden that God places on us squeezes the grapes in our lives and produces the wine, but most of us see only the wine and not the burden. No power on earth or in hell can conquer the Spirit of God living within the human spirit; it creates an inner invincibility. If your life is producing only a whine, instead of the wine, then ruthlessly kick it out.” CHAMBERS

 

I was talking with someone, just yesterday, about something mundane, routine when suddenly he shared the great burden he was bearing.  A son who was struggling in life.  I was not expecting that from him, even though I know that he has faced great trouble and sorrow.  It was a reminder to me that all of us will face tribulation.  The question is, how will we respond to it.  There are three kinds of people that we encounter.  On the one hand, there are those who smile, who will tell you that all is well, and all the while, they are emotional wrecks on the inside.  Their lives are filled with worry and heartache.  On the next, are those who wear their trouble on their sleeves.  They tell everyone, friend and stranger alike, about their struggles.  (I just had a picture flash through my mind.  When I was on my way to Vietnam, the plane stopped in Manila to refuel.  We had to wait in the airport.  In the airport waiting area there was a soldier with a “war dog”.  A huge German Shepherd.  The people had made a circle around the soldier and the dog, but there was about a 5 foot empty space surrounding them.  No one wanted to get close to the dog.)  That is how it is with the second type of person.  No one wants to get close to them, and they dread the sound of their voice approaching.  The third person seems to be coasting through life.  Always a kind word.  Encouraging others.  Serving joyfully.  Seemingly without a care.  The only real difference between them is that the third person is walking by faith and has drawn close to the Father.

 

As I write these devotions, I have found that there are some core verses that keep recurring, no matter what the topic.  One such reference is 2 Corinthians 1:3-5.  “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.  For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also abounds through Christ.”  Pastor Rick Warren said it this way.  “God never wastes a hurt”  We can find comfort and consolation in God.  Not feigned comfort but real comfort.  Something supernatural that cannot be explained by men, but only understood in the light of His Word. Now here is the thing.  The comfort and peace that we find, is  found in the midst of our trouble, not in its absence.  And that comfort and peace … it is not only for our benefit, but so we can comfort others .. encourage others .. not based upon something we have read, but based upon something we have experienced.  Be ready, you never know when the Lord will bring the opportunity your way.  ELGIN

Charley Elgin