5-19-2022

 Good Morning!

         Isaiah 66:13; “As a mother comforts her child, so will I comfort you.”

    We have either seen it or been part of it many times over. Even now, I remember some of the times when my mother comforted me. I vividly remember one winter day when we were going home from a relative’s house. The sidewalk was icy, so I took off running and slid down the sidewalk. I found that I had no way to stop but I thought a soft landing in a snowbank at the end of the walk would be alright.  The problem was that the snowbank had been put there by the city plow and it was as hard as a rock. I hit it and all the wind was knocked out of me. I couldn’t even cry until we were already out of town. I rode home on her lap the whole way.

    I can remember times when either my wife or I would have to comfort our sons after a fun play session ended with someone crashing and then crying. A few times we comforted them on the way to the emergency room for stitches. When they were very young, we would hold them, rock a little, usually stroke their head and quietly talk to them trying to calm the down. The first few sniffles and cries were usually pretty loud and intense but eventually they would at least only whimper and then usually go to sleep.

     I have found that my role as pastor has led me to be a “comforter.”  There are probably those who will tell you that there is a proper way to do this, but I tend to hold and to hug those who are hurting and crying. It is a lot like when my children would need to be comforted. It seems that people don’t need to hear a lot; they just want to be held and to be reassured that the world isn’t completely crashing down on them- even as it seems so.

    That is one of the truly great gifts that God gives us with our faith. We still feel the pain of events, dying loved ones, health issues, breaking relationships, failures in life. They are still there and very, very real. Yet we have God’s comfort. We have his presence through the Spirit in our lives to comfort us. One of the great benefits of being comforted is that you feel some peace and you can rest. We get that time when we rest, even if we were exhausted before, we get to rest.

    That is part of God’s great mercy for us- rest. Too often, we are tormented by the devil and his lies; God destroys those lies and in doing so we have comfort, and we have rest. God comforts us just as a mother comforts her child. He holds us close and whispers quietly in our ear. We hear his words of forgiveness and of hope and we can rest assured of his presence, of his peace. The world will try to destroy it, but God’s promise is sure; we have comfort, we have peaceful rest. So as life throws pain and sadness at you, remember; God gives you comfort, and he gives you peace to rest.

Dearest Father, there are many times when we cry to you over the pain we experience and you comfort us, you give us hope. We come to you in pain, and you give us rest. We give you thanks for this gift and we ask you Father to use us to be those to whom others may find comfort and rest. In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret