TODAY IS…

a splendid day for some words of comfort.

“When doubts filled my mind,Your comfort gave me renewed hope and cheer.”  Psalm 94:19 NLT

Only God can comfort us when we have doubts. Only God can reassure us when human insecurities cause us to second-guess our faith. The one we need to turn towards is often the very one we are turning away from.

It is a rare human being who doesn’t require the comfort and reassurance of God on more than one occasion during the course of a lifetime. God knows this. After all, He knows all about the trials, tribulations, and temptations that affect our lives. This is why He is always there when we need Him, and even though we may doubt – or be tempted to doubt – our love for Him, at times, His love for us is never in doubt. He understands and is ready to help us when we face those infrequent moments of uncertainty.

If we are faced with an unexpected tragedy or loss, we may very well think that God does not love us or that He has turned away from us. The sudden loss of a spouse or a child through an accident or an unforeseen health problem can shake us and leave us feeling weak, battered, lost, and alone. It is important to remind ourselves when we are not facing these problems that life is always full of surprises and they are not always pleasant.

But how do we prepare for things that might never happen to us?

When we seek out others who are faced with situations that we can only try to imagine facing, we can reach out to them and offer them words of comfort, encouragement and hope. This requires that we spend time reading the Bible so we become familiar with different verses that will help. As we do this, we are not only learning to help others, but we are taking steps to bolster our own faith and learning where to seek comfort ourselves should the unfortunate need arise.

As Paul explains, “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God.” (2 Corinthians 1:3-4 NIV).

We can all sympathize with Jacob when he thought his son, Joseph, was killed. His grief was overwhelming and, “All his sons and daughters came to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted. ‘No,’ he said, ‘In mourning will I go down to the grave to my son.’ So his father wept for him.” (Genesis 37:35 NIV).

We all know that Jacob should have sought comfort from God, for as it turned out, God had things under control and it worked out beyond Jacob’s wildest hopes. When he was reunited with a very-much-alive Joseph, Jacob wept until, “Finally, Jacob said to Joseph, ‘Now I am ready to die, since I have seen your face again and know you are still alive.’” (Genesis 46:30 NLT).

Let God’s comforting words help you deal with anything that may cause you to doubt and let Him restore your hope.

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Taken from “TODAY IS….A Gift From God”, (C) 2013 Tony Casson