Testimony of comfort in times of hurt

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and the God of all comfort.  He comforts us in all our affliction so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any kind of affliction, through the comfort we ourselves receive from God.” This is from 2 Corinthians chapter 1. I know most, if not all, of you have been through some kind of struggle or hurt in your life. If you know our Lord, then you also know how wonderfully comforting He is. I’ve felt Him right beside me in my darkest moments of hurt and disappointment, and also in my greatest times of loss. 

This week I want to talk about how God comforts us when we’re hurting. When things feel the most bleak, when we’ve been betrayed, or our plans fall through in a spectacularly bad way, He is right there with us.  After all, Jesus promised to never leave us or forsake us. He can identify with our pain because He was rejected and despised. Can you imagine coming to set your family free from prison only to be told to your face that you aren’t the one they want? Even when you tell them your plan and promise it will work and they still refuse to believe you? It was like that for Jesus. He came to earth with the greatest rescue plan to save mankind from their prison of sin and death. He went to the Jews first, because they are His special possession, His very own chosen people. But even though they had the scriptures telling the very story of how He would make this happen—actually verifying everything that He said and did—they still didn’t believe. The Pharisees in particular went as far as accusing Him of being from satan. The Son of God being told He was from satan! Oh yes, my friends, He is well acquainted with sorrow and grief. He knows what it feels like to be hated and hurt and abandoned. Even His closest friends (yep, the disciples) ran off and left Him as soon as soldiers arrived to arrest Him. That’s quite a blow. 

But just like the passage from 2 Corinthians assures us that those of us who suffer will be comforted, and that those of us who suffer will comfort others, our Lord models that perfectly for us. He went through suffering so that He can comfort us when we suffer. Jesus went through physical, mental, and emotional suffering.  Have you experienced any of that? I know I have! Today I want you to hear from Melody from North Carolina. She went through an experience of deep hurt, embarrassment, and emotional anguish.

"I went through a time when I was without God and apart from God. I almost got married. I have to say almost because I was in a situation where there were a lot of alcohol involved and a lot of things I’m not proud of, because during this time I was running away from God. But I was actually going to get married to this man. I was not a heavy drinker, we’d go out a lot, but he had a drinking problem and he would drink until he was soused or the money was all gone. I very often drove us home because I was the soberest one. I probably took a few risks. It was not a good time and I didn’t realize I was not happy. I thought marriage was what I needed to do. We came down to the wedding rehearsal and I had asked my fiancé to not drink tonight of all nights. I remember asking him, "please don’t drink during the rehearsal." Well, he showed up completely blasted, staggering around, and smelling awful. It was one of the most embarrassing moments of my life and I started thinking that night… when is a good time for me to get divorced? Two years from now, three years from now? I was at my absolutely lowest point. I realized how crazy that sounded, that I was in the middle of my wedding rehearsal and I was already planning my divorce. I was not happy. This man I was about to join in matrimony didn’t have respect for me at all. I went through a really tough emotional time. I was crying and upset, my mom was there and she was upset. I was embarrassed, mortified. I had nothing left and could go no further. I felt like I was at the bottom. I had no idea what to do. I had people on one side saying breaking it off. Others were saying its ok, go ahead and marry him. I remember thinking in the back of my head, go ahead and marry him and save face and divorce him later. I had all these wild thoughts running through my head about what I should do and who I should talk to.

For the first time I had to be alone. I remember going into my sister’s room and sitting on her old comforter. To this day I can remember the look of her room and the colors. For the first time in a long time I got on my knees and starting praying. I laid it all out before God and told Him I didn’t know what to do or where to go. I begged Him to help me decide and know what to do. To help me figure this out. If anyone has doubts that God exists, I can tell you for certain He does. This was the first time I heard His voice. It was not something I imagined in my head or something I made up. I remember the look of my sister’s room and the power that came down in those words. The power and the love was indescribable. It was so humbling when I met God. And to this day I still tear up because I can say, He was there. All the things I had done and ignored and fought, I could be a child of God again. It was an amazing night. He told me, “Don’t do it. Don’t go through with it. Trust me. Don’t do it.” It was a major leap of faith to fight the urge not to lose face with all those people. I called off the wedding and it was the best decision! Sometimes when He answers prayers, it may not be the answer you want, but it is the answer you need. Life after that brought me right back to God and to the church. And I found happiness and found my comfort in the Lord when I went back to Him."

Thanks so much for sharing, Melody! What a wonderful, loving, and comforting God we serve!  He was right there beside her through her trial. This reminds me a verse from Ps 18. In verse 6 it says, “In my distress I called upon the Lord; to my God I cried for help; From His temple he heard my voice, and my cry to Him reached His ears.” In Psalm 3 the bible says, “O Lord, how many are my foes! Many are rising against me; many are saying of my soul, there is no salvation for him in God. But you, O Lord, are a shield about me, my glory, and the lifter of my head. I cried aloud to the Lord, and He answered me from His holy hill. I lay down and slept; I woke again, for the Lord sustained me.” When the passage says “salvation” here, in the Hebrew it literally says, salvation, deliverance, or help, meaning to be rescued from distress or danger. What’s really cool, is that the Hebrew reading of this word is the feminine version of Yeshua, which is the Hebrew word for Savior. So it would mean, “many are saying of my soul, there is no Savior or Salvation from God” for the psalmist. Or if we applied it to our situations, our enemies would try to say we are foolish for believing God is going to save us, when our situation is really out of control. But what we know as Christians, is that our God, our Savior Jesus Christ, has already saved us and will rescue us from our troubles. Even if we bring the trouble down on our own heads. 

When we looked at the testimony of provision, I quoted from Benjamin Franklin, who said, “God helps those who help themselves.” Remember, this is wisdom from a worldly man who may not have had a relationship with God. This is not what the bible tells us. Again and again the bible shows us examples of how God rescues His people. If you aren’t convinced, look at the Israelites in the books of Judges, Kings and Chronicles. There are multiple stories of how God’s people turn away from Him to chase after false gods (aka, man-made objects that they chose to worship). Their enemies came after them and oppressed them.  Time after time, they called on the name of God for help and He graciously rescued them. He has a never ending, never giving up kind of love for His people. Even after they went into exile for continued disobedience, He eventually brought them back out and restored them to their land. 

Yes there are consequences to our actions. But there is abundant grace, loving kindness, forgiveness, and mercy available from God. You do not have to make yourself better and you do not have to try harder to receive it.  It is a free gift. I recently read a lovely book by James Bryan Smith called, “Embracing the Love of God.” In it, he recounts an incident where he had gotten the idea that God was angry with him because of his failures. As a result, he withdrew from God and even stopped talking to Him for a while. Then one day, he decided to face God again and came before the Lord with repentance and confession, repeating over and over, “I am so sorry, please forgive me, I know I can do better…”  The Lord answered by giving him a vision.  Here it is in his words: “When I closed my eyes I saw a lush green field, with the wind blowing through the high grass. Jesus was standing off in the distance and He began walking toward me. As He got closer I began pleading once again, ‘I am so sorry, please forgive me, I know I can do better…’ Jesus never said a word in response. He just kept walking toward me, looking straight into my eyes. When He got near me He lifted me up from the ground and hugged me. For the next five minutes I was hugged by God. No words were spoken, but a feeling of warmth and love and acceptance penetrated my lonely, restless heart.”

Friend, Jesus loves you. He loves you in the middle of your messes. He loves to comfort you. He is present with you when you hurt. He is ready to wrap His arms of love around you. Don’t be afraid to let Him heal your hurt. He is gentle and kind and sweet.

Let’s pray: Dear Lord, thank You for loving us even when we are unlovable. Thank you for being an ever present help in times of trouble. Thank you for comforting us and being the friend who sticks closer than a brother. Take away our fear of punishment and remind us that You took that punishment for us. In Jesus’ name we pray, amen.

Embracing The Love of God: The Path & Promise of Christian Life, by James Bryan Smith.
HarperCollins Publishers, 1995