The God of All Comfort

Saturday - April 2nd

Scripture to Read Today: 2 Corinthians 1:1-4

Our Comforter: The ultimate provider of consolation and solace when life brings pain

Names and Attributes of God

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Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.

2 Corinthians 1:3-4

Today we begin a week of Take5 devotionals that look at some of the names and attributes of God. When we understand the Lord's names and characteristics, we grow closer to Him. We can trust him more.

During my freshman year of college, I tried out for, and got accepted into, the school choir. Since we were from a Bible College, we often sang in churches on weekends and in a few malls at Christmastime. Each Spring Break, the choir traveled on a tour singing in churches and Christian schools daily. So, in the spring of 1986, I went on tour with my fellow choir mates. It was a lot of fun traveling through the Southeast with friends visiting new places, and singing nightly in local churches.

On the last Sunday of the 10-day tour, I woke up with a stomach virus. A few other members of the choir had it at different points on the trip. I was not able to sing in the church that Sunday morning. In the evening, we had to sing in one more local church and then head back to our campus, where I could spend a day or two recovering. That last concert was in Covington, Virginia. The church had a house on its property that missionary families stayed in when they were home for an extended furlough from the field. No one was living in it at the time. The pastor allowed me to spend the time we were at his church in that house in a bedroom with a bathroom.

I was so sick. It was one of those times you really don't want to be alone in a strange house while that sick. But, I would do anything to get away and wrestle through that stomach bug. Someone on our tour who had nothing to do with the concerts volunteered to be in the house with me. He tried to make sure I had whatever I needed. He even held a trashcan for me to get sick in as we moved from the church to the missionary house. He stayed within earshot of me and checked on me regularly.

This man was not in the choir. He had nothing to do with the college or any church we visited. He was the bus driver - a man unrelated to the college hired to drive us from location to location. The college had hired his company. His company had assigned him to our tour. I don't remember his name. I don't know where he lived. I know very little about him at all. But, I do know that he was my comforter for about four hours that night. He stayed with me as the choir set up, rehearsed, ate dinner, and then sang at the church.

The comfort, consolation, and solace that bus driver provided me that Sunday evening will never be forgotten. He exemplified caring for another person with no requirement or obligation to do so.

Jesus promised that he would send "the Comforter" to us as His followers. All who know Jesus have the Holy Spirit, that comforter in us. He is there to bring solace and consolation when we suffer and experience pain. The Lord Himself is called the "God of all comfort." 2 Corinthians 1:3-4 says He comforts us and then expects us to share His comfort with others who are hurting.

It is one thing for a kind bus driver to comfort an ill stranger. Humanly speaking, that is incredibly rare. It is something incredibly gracious and amazing that God would give us His Spirit so that we continuously have His comforter in us. Our Comforter will compassionately console us when others may not even know the inner pain we face. He knows us better than we know ourselves. He brings us a completely selfless, others-oriented, divine comfort.

When you need comfort in your pain, God has given you His Comforter to live with you now and forever!