Jesus is our Comfort

How do I get through the day? Moment by moment. There has not been a good day since Brandon’s been gone, but there have been some good moments. I have never been so sad in my life, but when I focus on Christ and the blessed assurance we have for eternal life, those moments are great. Even though I know where Brandon is, the thought of never seeing him again here on earth is devastating. The thought of my children not having him as a friend, role model, an encourager is crushing me. I have been spending so much time in the Psalms but for the last few days God has taken me to 2 Corinthians. As I have been reading and meditating on God’s word I realize that Christ is our comfort in suffering.

2 Cor. 1:3-ff- 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 tribulation,

 that we may be able to comfort those who are

in any trouble, with the comfort with which we

ourselves are comforted by God.  For as the sufferings

 of Christ abound in us, so our consolation

also abounds through Christ.

I pray that God will turn my pain into praise. Only God can do that. There is nothing I can do to cause this to happen. I must just rest in Christ.

Come to me all you who are weary and

 heavy laden and I will give you rest.

Take my yoke upon you and learn from me,

 for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and

you will find rest for your souls. For My

yoke is easy and My burden is light.

 I realize through 2 Cor. 1 that Christ is the only comfort we can find; nothing else will bring us comfort in times of tribulation. Not only does Jesus give us comfort but He allows us to comfort others through Christ when they go through trials and tribulations. God, lead me to the Rock that is higher than I. God keep my focus off of myself and my circumstances and let my focus be on you and you alone.  I pray God will keep my focus on what I know. Christ has given me some comfort; I know that the blessed assurance we have of eternal life was also Brandon’s blessed assurance. We know he is with Jesus right now.  The sad part about death is those that die without the blessed assurance that Brandon had. My vision, more so now than ever before, is to Just Speak Life to those who have no Life. I have thought many times about how much more difficult this would be had Brandon not accepted Christ as his Savior King. There would be no blessed assurance, no hope of ever seeing Brandon again, but we know we will see Brandon again, soon. 

God thank you for your salvation, for your grace, for your mercy, and for your perfect peace.

This George Mueller quote below was on one of our friends blog who are going through a trying time with there new born baby, Shepherd. He was born early and has not been able to breath on his own since he was born. They are doing many procedures and we are just praying for Shepherd and his parents that God's will be done. Please pray for his parents, Noah and Stephanie, for God to comfort them and give them His peace during this time and for healing of Shep's little body.

 

"The strength of our faith is in direct proportion to our level of belief that God will do exactly what He has promised. Faith has nothing to do with feelings, impressions, outward appearances, nor the probability or improbability of an event. If we try to couple these things with faith, we are no longer resting on the Word of God, because faith is not dependent on them. Faith rests on the pure word of God alone. And when we take him at His Word, our hearts are at peace.

God delights in causing us to exercise our faith. He does so to bless us individually, to bless the church at large, and as a witness to believers. Yet we tend to retreat from the exercising of our faith instead of welcoming it. When trials come, our response should be, "My Heavenly Father has placed this cup into my hands so I may later have something pleasant."

Trials are the food of faith. Oh! may we leave ourselves in the hands of our Heavenly Father. It is the joy of His heart to do good to all His children. Yet trials and difficulties are not the only way faith is exercised and thereby increased. Reading the scriptures also acquaints us with God as He has revealed Himself in them. 

Are you able to genuinely say, from your knowledge of God and your relationship with Him, that He is indeed a beautiful being? If not, let me graciously encourage you to ask God to take you to that point, so you will fully appreciate His gentleness and kindness, so you will be able to say just how Good He is, and so you will know what a delight it is to God's heart to do good for His children.

The closer we come to this point in our inner being, the more willing we are to leave ourselves in His hands and the more satisfied we are with all of His dealings with us. Then when trials come, we will say, "I will patiently wait to see the good God will do in my life, with the calm assurance he will do it."

In this way, we will bear a worthy testimony to the world and thereby strengthen the lives of others."

-George Mueller