Have you ever been in a rough place, and there was that one person who showed up and made you feel like everything would be all right?

They were just able to calm your mind and soothe your heart in such a way that, despite all that was going on in your life, you felt like you could breathe again.

Did you know that God wants to do that for you in every tough circumstance?

Your Father in heaven will be the God of all comfort to you, a reliable source of solace in every circumstance, if you will only allow Him to do so.  It is a promise that is literally written in the Scriptures.

2Corinthinans 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, 4 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. 5 For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also abounds through Christ. 6 Now if we are afflicted, it is for your consolation and salvation, which is effective for enduring the same sufferings which we also suffer. Or if we are comforted, it is for your consolation and salvation. 7 And our hope for you is steadfast, because we know that as you are partakers of the sufferings, so also you will partake of the consolation. 8 For we do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, of our trouble which came to us in Asia: that we were burdened beyond measure, above strength, so that we despaired even of life.

I love how God is described here as the God of all comfort.  A Father of mercies!

I love that it says He comforts us in all our tribulations. He does this not just for our own sake but so that we might be able to comfort those who are in trouble with the same comfort we were comforted by. It’s a beautiful cycle of comfort and connection.

Emobying God as my comforter sets me up to comfort others. But if I seek to deny the real issues for which I need His comfort, if I am one of the ones who really doesn’t want to need Jesus as others do, I will miss out on this amazing opportunity.

Jesus promised that in this world, we would have tribulation.  Trouble visits every child of God at some point or other and in some way or other.  Thankfully, Jesus also said, be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.  That means when He comes to comfort us, He leads us in His triumph over the things that are troubling us.

Here’s an interesting thought.  God does not comfort us with trite statements about what we should say or do.  He literally comes alongside us and joins us in the depths of our situation.  He empathizes with us and understands our struggle in the process. It is in this state of relationship awareness that He offers us His wise counsel on what to do next.  God is truly the best comforter you will ever have the privilege of experiencing when in need.

In this writing, the Apostle Paul testifies that in Asia, they were in great distress and burdened beyond measure. In other words, the things they faced were greater than the strength of their flesh to do anything about.  It was so bad that they even despaired of life.  In other words, they thought they might die.  But because of his experience of God as his comforter, he was able to write this word of comfort to the Corinthians.  The same is true of us as we journey through this life with Jesus.  The more we experience Him, the more we can embody who he is towards others.  Avoiding tough situations and complicated circumstances will not yield a revelation of His comfort.  Troubles bring that revelation to light.  Do you know your comforter?