Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
the Father of all compassion and the God of all comfort, who
comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those with the comfort
we ourselves have received from God.
2
Corinthians 1:3-4
This article is written in loving
memory of my step-father, Artis Jones, who went to be with the Lord on October
24, 2006. Just a few days before my last message went out to you; my
step-father suffered several strokes. After holding onto life for several
weeks, he passed away and left all those who loved and cherished him. My
step-father is not only missed by my mother and our entire family, but a large
church family and many, many dear friends.
One thing I admired about my
step-father was that he was a very friendly man and never met a stranger. By
that, I mean that he spoke to people at gas stations and malls as if he had
known them for years. He has been known to introduce his new friend like he had
known him for years! So his personality was most impressive.
But the best thing I can think to
say about him is that he had been a faithful servant of His Lord and Savior,
Jesus Christ, since he was a young boy and loved God with all of His heart, soul
and mind. He was a true example of what being Christ-like was all about with
his calm nature and kind ways. There was a Scripture that came to me concerning
my step-father when I heard the news of his illness:
I have fought a good fight; I have finished the
race,
I
have kept the faith.
2 Timothy 4:7
Several days before my step-father
passed away, the Lord began to show me through His Word that He was indeed the
God of all comfort. I also found Scriptures that offered words of peace to me
because I felt it was inevitable that my step-father was not going to survive.
But praise God that He is the God of
all comfort and will help us in our times of need. He will have compassion on
His children. Just as the Scripture from 2 Corinthians 1:3-4 says, once we’re
comforted, we can then comfort someone else who has a need. It’s wonderful to
be comforted by someone who knows and understands the pain we're going through.
Those people seem to realize what we’re facing because they’ve lived some of the
same type of pain themselves. Sometimes just their very presence can be
comforting. But isn’t it wonderful to feel the calm assurance that the Lord is
there to help us in our times of need, for He says:
“I,
even I, am He who comforts You.” Is. 51:12
and
“As a
mother comforts her child, so will I comfort You . . . .” Is. 66:13
We may feel like God has deserted us
when we must go through times of suffering or feel distressed. We may even feel
very alone like He is no where near, but God will not forsake His own.
“Never
will I leave You; never will I forsake You.” Deu. 31:6
When the future looks discouraging,
we don't have to be fearful and worry about what it will bring, because God will
be faithful to help us in those times. It may seem that you have steep
mountains to cross or low valleys to walk through each day, but I know that God
will be there for His children. He will wrap His loving arms around His
children and wipe away every tear. He will have compassion on those who are
suffering. He will bind up the brokenhearted and comfort all who mourn (Is.
61:1-2) and there is no need to fear the future when we have the Comforter with
us. I am confident that when we go through these times of trial we will be
comforted and soothed by the God of all comfort who knows and cares about our
grief.
Prayer:
Heavenly Father, I praise You today for never
leaving us or forsaking us when we must go through times of loss and times of
being alone. Thank You for being with us and caring for us like You do. I
appreciate You Lord for the way You stand by us. Your Precious Promises are
true. I love You so much my Jesus. I am honored to be Your child. I lift up
all those who are going through times of loss or have had circumstances
surrounding them that have caused them to fear or not feel like You are near.
Let them know that You are there with them. No matter what is going on around
them, let them know that You will always stand by them. Comfort them today Lord.
Comfort those who have lost someone through death, separation or even divorce.
Comfort them and dry every tear. I thank You in advance for answering prayer.
Thank You again for all You do. I ask all of these things in the Precious Name
of Jesus. Amen.
