"For the Lord comforts Zion; he comforts all her waste places and makes her wilderness like Eden, her desert like the garden of the Lord; joy and gladness will be found in her, thanksgiving and the voice of song." (Isaiah 51:3 ESV) We all experience trauma and we experience it in many different ways. What may be traumatic for one person may not affect someone else. We react differently. We may try and cope, maybe we try and fight our way through it or perhaps we pretend it has never happened. Trauma leaves us feeling emotionally empty and when we feel this way we need to receive comfort. When we are in shock, when we feel alone, are in pain, sick, wounded, bereaved or rejected we need to receive comfort. Every trauma, however big or small has to be met with a greater level of comfort. To bring healing and wholeness, the comfort we need has to be greater than the source of pain. If we do not receive more comfort than the trauma we have received we are left in pain and distress. We are left comfortless or in discomfort. It may not be easy to face the trauma which has settled in your heart, it can be very painful. The good news is that you don't have to 'deal' with this on your own. God is the Father of ALL comfort and it is he who pours this comforting love into your heart. He is the One who transforms the empty and barren places of your heart. Joy and gladness will begin to replace the sadness and sorrow of a broken heart. If you would like to go deeper there is a series of teaching on Comfort, together with an article which you can download at http://afathertoyou.com/conferences The next Fatherheart 'A' School in the UK is in July at Cloverley Hall in Shropshire. This is an opportunity for you to experience Father's love and to know his comforting love filling your heart. All the details together with an online booking form are at http://fhmaschool.uk You are all very welcome. "Again, I observed all the oppression that takes place under the sun. I saw the tears of the oppressed, with no one to comfort them. The oppressors have great power, and their victims are helpless. So I concluded that the dead are better off than the living. But most fortunate of all are those who are not yet born. For they have not seen all the evil that is done under the sun." (Ecclesiastes 4:1-3 NLT) I think these are some of the saddest verses in the Bible. What a tragedy! The desperation and emptiness of not being comforted. Solomon's conclusion at the end of his long life, with all its ups and downs, is that a life without God is meaningless. He sees people who have not been comforted and his conclusion is stark: We are better off dead rather than living without comfort. A bold statement, but one we should take to heart. In fact, Solomon does not stop there. Those that have died had experienced a comfortless life; they never knew the quiet enjoyment or contentment which comes when we are comforted. They never experienced the relief from their pain or affliction. And so Solomon concludes it's better not to be born rather than to live uncomforted. What a tragedy! You can see why I think these are among the saddest verses in the Bible. Sadly, many of us turn to false comforts in order to try and fill the void within us. These false comforts (such as sex, drugs, alcohol, food, shopping, relationships etc) bring relief in the short term but will ultimately end up disappointing and letting us down. They are like medicine which only has a short-term effect; when the medicine has run its course, the pain returns. This is not the way the Father would have us live for he is the Father of ALL comfort. Today I pray that this comfort will begin to fill your heart and you would be able to experience satisfaction and contentment deep within. If you would like to go deeper there is a series of teaching on Comfort, together with an article which you can download at http://afathertoyou.com/conferences The next Fatherheart 'A' School in the UK is in July at Cloverley Hall in Shropshire. This is an opportunity for you to experience Father's love and to know his comforting love filling your heart. All the details together with an online booking form are at http://fhmaschool.uk You are all very welcome. "Comfort, comfort my people, says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and cry to her that her warfare is ended, that her iniquity is pardoned, that she has received from the Lord's hand double for all her sins." (Isaiah 40:1-2 ESV) Comfort in one form or another is mentioned over one hundred times throughout the Bible and I therefore conclude that it is a very important topic. In fact, I would rather not refer to it as a topic as that implies it is something we understand with our mind whereas it is something we experience at a deep level in our heart. It is a powerful emotion that brings healing to the deepest wounds in our heart. Sadly, comfort is not one of those things we talk about very often. I think the reason is that so many of us have not been truly comforted and are therefore unable to comfort others (2 Corinthians 1:3-4) I have come to see that comfort is not just something we receive for the hurts and wounds of the past but it is something we need to receive on a daily basis in order to set us free to live as sons and daughters. A daily deposit of comfort is the doorway to freedom. This is something we will be looking at over the next few weeks. Let's start with a look at the dictionary definition of comfort as that gives some insight on the power of this expression of healing love: ".....to bring relief from pain, distress or affliction, to satisfy, to strengthen within. To provide a sense of wellbeing. Quiet enjoyment." As we are comforted so we discover the quiet contentment of a life of rest and peace. This is the joy that is set before us as we take this journey into the comforting love of our Heavenly Father. I pray that you will begin to receive this comfort and will be empowered to live out of the overflow of comforting love in your heart. If you would like to go deeper there is a series of teaching on Comfort, together with an article which you can download at http://afathertoyou.com/conferences The next Fatherheart 'A' School in the UK is in July at Cloverley Hall in Shropshire. This is an opportunity for you to experience Father's love and to know his comforting love filling your heart. All the details together with an online booking form are at http://fhmaschool.uk You are all very welcome. As you come to him, the living Stone - rejected by humans but chosen by God and precious to him - you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. (1 Peter 2:4-5, 9-10 NIV) A few weeks ago the Queen took part in a documentary about her coronation. One of the things she discussed was the coronation crown which was with her during the interview. The interviewer pointed out how heavy it was, to which the Queen replied: "When you wear a crown you need to keep looking up. If you look down, you'd break your neck. When you look at something you need to bring it up in front of your eyes rather than looking down at it". It struck me how true this was. It's easy for us to look down and feel the weight of our circumstances and allow them to take over our life. Like the Queen, we need to keep our eyes lifted up so we can gaze upon the beauty of the Lord, seeking him in his temple (Psalm 27:4). We can fix our eyes on Jesus, the founder and pioneer of our faith (Hebrews 12:2). We are a royal priesthood and a holy nation. We are the people of God who have been called out of darkness into the light of his presence. Although we live in a fallen, broken world we belong to him. As sons and daughters we wear a crown of beauty, we are not forsaken or rejected but he delights in us. ".... and you shall be called by a new name that the mouth of the Lord shall give. You shall be a crown of beauty in the hand of the Lord, and a royal diadem in the hand of your God. You shall no more be termed Forsaken, and your land shall no more be termed Desolate, but you shall be called My Delight Is in Her, and your land Married; for the Lord delights in you...." (Isaiah 62:2-4 ESV) The next Fatherheart 'A' School in the UK is in July at Cloverley Hall in Shropshire. This is an opportunity for you to experience Father's love and to know his comforting love filling your heart. All the details together with an online booking form are at http://fhmaschool.uk You are all very welcome. |
Weekly SignpostA Father to YOU is a signpost to the heart of the Perfect Father. When we became Christians we were given the right to become children of God (John 1:12). Sadly, many of us fail to take up that right and instead continue to live as slaves or orphans. But our true destiny is being sons and daughters who have a permanent place in the Father's family. This blog is an encouragement to help you know who God really is and who you really are. Click here to subscribe. |