God of all Comfort

 

                                                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.