Today many Christians are distressed in these undeniable times of unique uncertainty in the USA and in the whole world, yet we are not as those who have no comfort. We who know our Bibles know what is soon to come upon this repugnant sinful world and its Satanic world systems. We know well of the Satanic forces working behind the scenes the media, politics, and religion including apostate Christianity, always seeking to enslave and destroy mankind.

We also do know there is light at the end of this dark tunnel-time when “the Sun of righteousness,” Jesus Christ, shall appear in all His bright glory.

“But unto you that fear [honor] my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall. Malachi 4:2 (KJV)

“For our conversation [citizenship] is in heaven [as our eternal home]; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ: ²¹ Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious [resurrected] body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself. Philippians 3:20-21 (KJV)

So, we above all people have comfort no matter what befalls us.

“Blessed be God, even [that is] the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort;” 2 Corinthians 1:3 (KJV)

Since the entrance of sin into the world, the way of man has been anything but easy. Job was a man who seemed to have his finger on the pulse of the matter when he wrote, “… man is born unto trouble, as the sparks fly upward.” It is interesting though, that when calamity strikes, men are quick to blame God, or to ask why He allows such occurrences in their lives. But shall we blame God for what man has brought upon himself? God forbid! Man is a product of his own foolishness.

“Wherefore, as by one man [Adam] sin [as the nature in fallen mankind] entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:” Romans 5:12 (KJV)

Some claim that if they had only been back in the garden everything would have been different. I certainly have no reason to doubt them. In all probability, they likely would have pushed Adam aside to reach the forbidden fruit before Eve and Adam did!

You see, God saw and today sees the entire human race as being “in Adam.” Since all were born in the lineage of Adam as the federal head of the human race, when Adam stretched forth his hand to partake of the forbidden fruit, each of us were reaching for it as well. We are Adam’s human posterity and all of us bear the Sin-nature of the Satanic Sin virus located in our flesh (Rom. 8:3b, 7:17-18). Thus, we share in his guilt. God could have condemned the whole human race to “eternal destruction” (2Thes 1:9) in “the Lake of Fire” and He would have been perfectly justified in so doing. Thankfully, we did not receive what we justly deserved, for “The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy” (Psa. 103:8).

So, while we remain on this fallen earth as one of fallen mankind, our lives are filled with distress. Yet, as believers who have trusted in Christ, God as our mutual Father, comforts us.

“[God] Who comforteth us in all our tribulation [Grk root, thlipsis, under ‘pressure’], [so] that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble [anguish], by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God.” 2 Corinthians 1:4 (KJV)

Here, of course, the Apostle refers only to genuine believers. Our heavenly Father knows that we are frail creatures of dust, overwhelmed with sorrow, sickness and even death; not to mention the spiritual upheavals that come our way. Always sympathetic to our plight, He walks with us every step of life’s journey comforting us in all our tribulations. Paul was speaking of the personal trials and tribulations he also had encountered due to spiritual conflicts and poor health. Personal trials come in all forms: criticism, rejection, financial setbacks, sickness, accidents, bereavement, etc.

(NOTE - The word ‘tribulation’ referred to here by the Apostle Paul is not a reference to the end-time Tribulation Period known as The Time of Jacob’s Trouble.)

The Lord in His goodness is always present since He lives in us. So, when sorrow overwhelms us like an ocean tide, He is there to comfort us in our time of need. But how exactly does God comfort us during today’s dispensational age of “the Grace of God”? We know for instance that the heavens are silent and that neither the Lord nor any of His angelic host visibly appear to minister to the saints today. Those who say they have seen Mary and other so-called saints, or family members need to realize the Scripture tells us these are demons imitating them.

We know there is no mediator between us and the Father but Jesus Christ, who now is in us as our very life. “For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;” 1 Timothy 2:5 (KJV)

During today’s administration of “the Grace of God” the Lord, first of all, comforts us through His Word. Our sense of loss of a loved one would be difficult to bear except for the consolation we have received from “the Word of God.” The Lord has shown me that I need not sorrow “as others which have no hope.”

“But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope.” 1 Thessalonians 4:13 (KJV)

Someday soon “the trump of God” will sound and the dead in Christ will be raised. Then we who may be alive at that time will also be caught up together with all those departed loved ones who were saved, and so shall we ever be with the Lord! [cf. 1Thes 4:13-18]. Little wonder that Paul in verse 18 says, “Wherefore comfort one another with these words.”

Another way the Lord comforts us is by bringing someone into our lives at just the right moment to encourage us in those times of despair. We have a precedent for this in the life of Paul himself. The intensity of the spiritual warfare he faced at Ephesus and Macedonia had taken its toll on the Apostle Paul, both physically and spiritually. The arrival of Titus was a direct result of Divine intervention to encourage Paul, and also that he might lend assistance in the work.

“For, when we were come into Macedonia, our flesh had no rest, but we were troubled on every side; without were fightings, within were fears. ⁶  Nevertheless God, that comforteth those that are cast down, comforted us by the coming of Titus; ⁷  And not by his [Titus’] coming only, but by the consolation wherewith he was comforted in you, when he told us your earnest desire, your mourning, your fervent mind toward me; so that I rejoiced the more.” 2 Corinthians 7:5-7 (KJV)

Finally, God does not comfort us to make us comfortable, but rather that we might comfort others. It has been given to all genuine Bible knowing believers to carry on a ministry of encouragement to those who are suffering under troubles. Think of it, having already been the recipients of God’s consolation, He uses us to put our arm around that Christian friend who is perhaps facing his first surgery and tell him, “we too had this same surgery a few years ago and the Lord saw us through it.” For us God uses all ‘the negative’ in this world for the good, as He did by the terrible suffering of Jesus at the Cross to redeem and save us.

We can face anything with eternal hope. That’s why God has revealed to us what Paul calls the “the Blessed Hope” that one day soon we shall be with Him, to dwell “eternal in the heavens” (2Cor. 5:1b)

“[We are] Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;” Titus 2:13 (KJV)

Truly our God is the Father of mercies and the God of all comfort.

- Portions Adapted from Paul M. Sadler -