Comfort John 14  CLICK TITLE FOR AUDIO

There is hardly a time in life that we don’t need to be comforted.  Little children need to be comforted when they are sick or hurting, and adults need to be comforted when they are sad or grieving.  Where do we need to turn for comfort?  When you need comfort turn to:

The Spirit of God – Jn 14:16, 26; Acts 9:31 – the most comforting person is the Spirit of God.  The Lord sent him to us to be our Comforter.  He knows you inside and out.  He understands exactly where and when to apply his comfort.  Often, a Christian might not know the comforting presence of the Spirit because he may have turned to sin instead of to the Lord to solace himself.  When you are filled with the Spirit his comfort is much more evident.  He is the first person we should turn to when we need to be comforted.

The word of God – Rom 15:4, 1 Thes 4:18 – when people turn to the Bible for comfort they often go to the Psalms.  There was a time in my life when I wasn’t sure whether God would keep me in the ministry.  The first two verses of Psalm 18 were so comforting to me.  Even thinking about how they comforted me back then brings me comfort now.  We get so busy and hurried and stressed when we need to be comforted that we often forgo our Bible reading.  That’s a big mistake.  You need more Bible, not less, during times like those.  Keep reading until you are comforted.

The children of God – 2 Cor 1:3-4 – we often go through things in our Christian lives that cause us pain.  One of the reasons is so that we can be a comfort to others who go through something similar.  This is called the ministry of consolation.  Wives newly widowed will turn to another widow for comfort.  And the beauty of this consolation is that when you have comforted somebody the way the Lord comforted you, it makes what you have been through a little bit sweeter.

Conclusion: when you find yourself in need of comfort turn to the Spirit of God, first.  Then get in your Bible and stay in it till you are comforted by the scripture.  And don’t hesitate to turn to your brother or sister in Christ for help.  They can help you in ways that no one else can.