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The promise we have in the Word of God is that God will not leave us comfortless. In fact, the Word of God says He is “the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort”- 2 Corinthians 1:3b. This promise is available to us today. We however go through some things in our lifetime that tend to increase the level of our discomfort and we begin to forget the promise that God will not leave us comfortless (John14:18). “God is our refuge and strength an ever-present help in trouble” – Psalms 46:1. So, we know He is always there for us. And verse 2 in the passage above says it does not matter even if the mountain falls into the sea, we will continue to trust in our God.
God knows what we are going through, especially in difficult moments like this. There are just so much news of death around us these days that it cannot but depress our hearts, but God knows. He sees exactly what is going on and His Word for us is to stay strong and be courageous. Right now, it may seem as if the wind of life is blowing against us, but we must remember the experience of the disciples in Mark 6. Jesus had asked them to go ahead of him to Bethsaida after they just finished feeding five thousand people. The feeding of 5,000 people with five loaves of bread and two pieces of fish was itself a remarkable event. But this is the time that Satan chose to test them and test their faith, because it was not long after they entered the boat that the wind was against them. While Jesus was praying, He saw that they were straining and that they needed help. Jesus knew their limits and at the appropriate time He showed up to help them out. God knows our limits and He knows our circumstances. God knows right now how low we feel in our spirit, but He is our help. He is the glory and lifter of our heads. He is the lifter of our souls. He is our God, our comforter and He will not test us beyond our limits.
This is a trying time for a lot of people all over the world. Parents losing their children, spouses losing their partners, children losing their parents, and lifetime friends lost to a raging pandemic in a matter of days. We live in a fallen world. This means pain and suffering are inevitable. Sometimes these pains are in the form of the loss of our loved ones. And as Apostle Paul stated in 2 Corinthians 4:7, our bodies and minds are truly like jars of clay that are easily broken and shattered. Right now, many of us are in that place. However, regardless of the terror of our present storm, we can be rest-assured that the captain of our soul has not forgotten us. There is no doubt He is praying for us now just as He was praying for the disciples all the while during that long stormy night (Mark 6:46). To know that should have calmed their inner storm and ours too, if not the outer. It is to us caught in the storms here and now, not just to the disciples, that the writer of Hebrews says, “Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them” (Heb 7:25). Be comforted, brothers and sisters, our Lord Jesus Christ is praying for us too, and He is able to save us completely as we go to God through Him.
There is a word of comfort for us in Isaiah 41:10, 13; it says, “I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. For I am the LORD, your God, who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, Do not fear; I will help you.” He is our God from whom all our help comes. In this time that grief seems to surround us, we shall continue to put all our trust in Him. We realize our helplessness and acknowledge that He is almighty. He is our God, Our Comfort.
Something marvelously strange about our comfort is the fact that we are not God. There is something here that should give us the peace we need. If we turn all our affairs to the Lord, then every call is His call. It may not be what we desire, but He oversees our affairs now and as we continue to trust in Him, may He deal with our affairs as He wills. He is our God, our comforter. The winds are His, the storms are His, the darkness is His, the sea is His, but underneath all of these are His everlasting arms. We give all glory to the one that is able to lift us up.
March 14, 2021 – Pastor Simbo Odunaiya
