God of all Comfort
By Penny
Williams
Spring is
here! Summer is near! Pine pollen covers everything and there are wasps and
hornets that squeeze their way onto our screened porch. If I feel brave, I capture one in a bottle and
put him back outside where he belongs. Other times I grab my bug spray. While on this earth, there will always be
something that either gets into our food, nests on our porch, finds its way to
your attic or under the hood of your car, or eats the leaves off your tomato
plants. Not to mention the snakes. I remember a time living in Florida driving
down a highway and talking to my babysitter, my peripheral vision told me I
mistakenly ran over what looked like a huge log in the road. When I looked into
the rear-view mirror of the car, I saw the grandpappy of alligators unhurt and lumbering
back into the bush. My old Corvair was never the same.
There are
countless reasons and explanations when searching for the causes of our trials.
When as a freshly born-again believer filled with joy, fiery zip and zeal, I
had thousands [a slight exaggeration] of ideas about pleasing God. In fact,
most of the time I ran ahead of Him, tripping, stumbling, but still carrying His
torch and message of love. I was out to change the world! Exasperated, my
girlfriend looked at me and said,
“You are
in need of patience.”
That
statement stopped me in my tracks and made me think. Has anyone thought about
what we go through to get this priceless crown of patience? If you were like me
and in need of patience you would be placed in situations with a smile, told to
wait, be calm and see. Hours turned into days of waiting then months and even
years. We go through tough times to bear the fruit of patience. For us to have
the fruit of patience we must link up with endurance. We are going to have to
endure the trial. Patience is a must for our Father’s children. The Holy Spirit
begins to restructure our heart and thinking patterns. There are times in our
lives when we must slow down and once again listen:
“Be still
and know I am God.”
Our lives
are beyond what we think we know and yet we put so much store in the physical. Jesus
knew this when He taught us through His parables. We could identify as He
talked. He patiently spoke through The Spirit of Truth whose words miraculously
opened our hearts, our minds, our souls and yes, even our flesh. All in love.
Every person you see who has been truly born again is a walking miracle. His
work in our hearts never ceases because He never stops teaching us.
“So do
not throw away your confidence, it will be richly rewarded. You need to
persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what He
has promised.” He. 10:35-36
“Therefore,
since we are surrounded by so great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off
everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run
with perseverance the race marked out for us.” He.12:1
“Therefore,
since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our
Lord Jesus Christ. Through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace
in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only
so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering
produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character hope. And hope does not disappoint us,
because God has poured out His love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom He
has given us.” Ro. 5:1-5
Nothing
is as sweet to me when my heart is grieving when talking to a friend and she
says to me:
“I know
exactly how you feel because it has been 3 years since my daughter passed and
just now, I am starting to feel like living again.”
As I listened
to her, I was comforted by how The Holy Spirit was consoling me. He uses His people to give us the comfort we
need in our lives. He will use a stray homeless kitten! Our Father knows what
it takes to give you comfort. A friend
who has experienced the same thing you have begins to comfort you with the
right words at the right time. As we listen, The Holy Spirit begins to heal our
hearts, and we become fruit bearers of His promises and purpose.
In
Christ, everything becomes turned around. He gives you a new heart to store up
His goodness, new eyes so you can see through His lens, new thoughts so you can
think His way. Your speech will be filled with His grace that has changed your
life.
Have you
ever talked to a person who has a storehouse of patience? Years ago, I was
talking to a lady who was married to a very immature man. I watched him on his
motor bike tearing up the yard. Her response, “I have enough patience for the
both of us.” She had patience and character!
Something
miraculous happens when you come through a tough trial, you feel lighter and as
if you can almost touch the hand of God. Do you understand why? Because your heart has
given the problem to God. There are some things that we are unable to carry. When
that happens, you will receive the peace of God.
Is there
a divine connection between humility and patience? I believe they both go together;
you cannot have one without the other. Humility will never say, “I deserve it!”
And, will never brag about themself but
boast upon God’s will and grace. Patience gently takes your hand and whispers,
“Don’t give up I am still here, just a little bit longer.”
Here is a
heart check for you.
When we
are confronted with another roadblock, how do our hearts respond?
Do we:
Stretch
our faith and see the possible blessing throughout the challenge? Yes, you can
do this! Look for it!
The Test of Forgiveness
Have we
forgiven everyone who has offended us?
a. Those who have lied to us
b. Those who have stolen from us
c. Cheated, betrayed and rejected us
e. Broken promises again
“For
if you forgive men when they have sinned against you, your Heavenly Father will
also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will
not forgive your sins.” Mt.6:14
True
godly believers have no other option. This came straight from our Savior. We
must forgive everyone. When we do, our Father throws it into the sea of
forgetfulness; never to be brought up again. The matter is finished.
I could name
countless cases why we should keep that chip on our shoulder and not forgive,
but they would be words from the world and not God. Unforgiveness is like
drinking a glass of arsenic slowly. There are always adverse effects from
unforgiveness.
Most of
the time we do not recognize that our very problem is a camouflage of
redesigning us into a beautiful piece of pottery.
It could
be something like driving in the country and looking for a chicken farm to buy
a bunch of chicks. You stop at a roadside fruit stand and ask where the farm is
and he tells you, “Just over the hill.” You drive over the hill and a few more hills,
until finally you see the farm.
The point
to that story is to never give up on your walk. The hinderances are sent by God
to prepare you to be strong and to shine like a diamond.
Our physical
battles can become tiring. Here is our hope in Jesus Christ: When we understand
that pride is deceiving and selfishness is like greed which is like idolatry
[Col.3:5] and repent and turn around, we will be waved past ourselves
and into the blessings of humility and patience.
Which
comes first? Humility or patience? Humility must come first for patience to
have its perfect work inside of your heart. Humility listens to God and will
bury your pride. A heartfelt acceptance and understanding of our inabilities
will give us the peace we need. You are unique and special. If God made you an
apple, you can be the shiniest, best and loveliest apple around. Not so, if you’ve
been trying to be an orange. There are some things we need to let go. Be thankful and content in the hand He has set
before you to do while you are here. Humble yourself and honor God. Listen
closely to Him as He teaches you, He could be giving you a thankful heart. Learn who you are in Christ and do not allow
your past to identify you. Your past is forgiven and buried. Your identity is
in Jesus Christ. You are learning to bear His fruit.
If you
are truly bearing His fruit, wouldn’t you be attractive to those around you to
taste and see God’s goodness?
Fear God
We go
through our obstacle courses to learn to fear God. We cannot see Him,
but we know He is there, He knows our every move, every thought and we have
read about Him in the Bible. He tests our hearts and minds. We have experienced
His love, forgiveness, mercies, grace and patience. He judges us according to
His word. There are times we are judged by the very words we speak. Why?
Because we haven’t given a thought to fearing our Father. We haven’t given any
thought to the consequences of our words or actions. Some of our consequences
are short lived, others are long standing. If we have made an unthinking,
fleshly, wrong decision for wrong reasons, there could be a consequence. Learn
to be honest with the truth that you have found in Christ.
We have
all done this. You are not alone.
There are
times, we do not take the time to ask God through prayer about important decisions
that “looks good” to you and we discover we have too easily walked out of the
will of God. In other words, we have opened a door we should not have walked
through. As we walked through that door, our Father never fails to teach us what
we must learn.
It seems
we sometimes become shattered so He can pick up the pieces again. I believe
there are times when we make things complicated in our lives because we are
selfishly impatient. We place The Holy Spirit on the shelf and refuse to listen
to God. “We might think, I have always done it this way; and I will continue to
do it this way.”
The Bible
tells us to “fear God and live.” Our Father teaches those whom He loves. We learn
to fear Him. Saying our walk is a process bears repeating.
“The
angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear Him, and He delivers them.
Psalm 34:7
“Fear
the Lord, you His saints, for those who fear Him lack nothing.” Psalm 34:9
“Come
my children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the Lord.” Psalm 34:11
There
isn’t any amount of bargaining in prayer, whining, crying, temper tantrums,
screaming, complaining, fretting, or pouting, that will change God’s ways. If
He loves you and you are His child; YOU WILL LEARN HOW to fear
God. You will learn and what you will learn most is that it is He who has
the last say and not you.
To sum up
our thoughts about the trials and tests we go through:
1.
We go through the trials and tests, to prove that our faith is genuine. 1Pe.1:3-9
2.
To develop patience and character. Ja.1:2-4
3.
To fear God, as it will keep you from sinning. God teaches us to fear
Him. Dt.8:5
4.
To be fruit bearers. John 15:2
5.
To give comfort to those in the same way God has comforted us. 2Co.1:3-7
6.
To forgive all who have offended you. Mt.6:14
7.
The tests of selfishness and pride vs humility and patience.
8.
Other times, your trial is to develop a thankful heart.
I am sure
there are scores of reasons why we go through our tough times, one is that the
experiences make us stronger and wiser. The day will come when we can finally
say to our Father:
“I have learned my lesson Father and learned
well!”
Pray with
me:
Heavenly
Father,
I need
your strength; I need your forgiveness and love. From my heart, I forgive all
who have offended me and purposely let them all go once and for all. Cleanse my
heart Father and fill me with your forgiveness. I have sinned against you and
others. [name your sins]_______. Take all selfishness and pride from me. Teach
me your ways, your word and how to fear You. Open my eyes to see your hand in
my life. Use me to be a fruit bearer. Come into my life and direct all my steps,
season my mouth with your salt and let me be one who shines for You in all my
ways.
In Jesus
name I ask, amen.
If you believe
that Jesus is Lord and have prayed in faith, welcome into the family of God!
The Bible says that you are a new creature in Christ, behold all the old things
are passed away. Find a good Bible, a
good Bible believing church and join one of the small groups as they will pray
for you and help you through the tough times.
