The Father's Comfort

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our trouble so that we will be able to comfort those who are in any trouble with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. For just as the sufferings of Christ are ours in abundance, so also our comfort is abundant through Christ. (2 Corinthians 1:3-5 NASB)

One of the things we don't talk about very often, despite it being mentioned over a hundred times in the Bible, is comfort. Comfort is an incredibly powerful expression of love and it is something that we need to talk about, but more than that it is something we need to experience. 

In Ecclesiastes 4, Solomon describes the desperate state of the human heart when we do not receive comfort. His shocking conclusion is that people are better dead rather than not being comforted. 

Comfort is an expression of love which goes to the painful depth of our heart and brings relief to the trauma or grief that we've experienced. It is the only way that trauma or grief can be washed out of our heart to set us free. We lose an unwelcome friend that has made its home in our heart, often for many years. The Father's comfort is the only way that trauma can be permanently erased. 

Comfort, however, is not something we purely need to receive for past hurts or wounds. It is something we can receive daily in order that a reservoir of comfort builds up inside of us giving us the strength and energy we need to face our daily lives. Without this surplus of comfort we struggle from one situation to the next. A comforted heart is one that has come home and  found its place of rest in the centre of the Father's love. A comforted heart has undergone a transformation where the barren desert has been transformed into a joyful, fruitful garden. 

I encourage you to receive comfort daily in order that your heart can undergo this much needed transformation.