God calls Himself "...the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our tribulation" in 2 Corinthians 1:3-4. There is no question for God's faithful followers He is able and willing to supply comfort and abundant consolation. The amazing and perplexing truth is Christians can refuse to be comforted. Job inferred it would be foolish to receive good from God and not evil, and it is also foolish to do the opposite. Why punish ourselves by denying comfort God graciously offers?
There are instances in scripture when people suffered loss and received comfort by God. There are others who experienced such a depth of grief they were inconsolable. When Jacob saw Joseph's blood-stained coat of many colours, he imagined his son had been killed by wild beasts. Genesis 37:35 says, "And all his sons and all his daughters arose to comfort him; but he refused to be comforted, and he said, "For I shall go down into the grave to my son in mourning." Thus his father wept for him." Jacob's grief over the loss of one son for a while overwhelmed the comfort of others he loved in his family. Strong negative emotions can overwhelm us and hinder us from receiving comfort intends for us. When the male babies were slaughtered in Bethlehem by Herod comfort seemed beyond belief (Jer. 31:15).
It does not take immense personal tragedy to feel cut off from the comfort of God. We are not told the circumstances, but the psalmist Asaph candidly wrote in Psalm 77:1-3, "I cried out to God with my voice-- to God with my voice; and He gave ear to me. 2 In the day of my trouble I sought the Lord; my hand was stretched out in the night without ceasing; my soul refused to be comforted. 3 I remembered God, and was troubled; I complained, and my spirit was overwhelmed. Selah." In his trouble Asaph remembered and sought the LORD, and knew he had been heard by God. But like hard-packed soil which water cannot penetrate, Asaph's soul repelled consolation from God and "refused to be comforted." Asaph looked to the God of comfort for comfort, but found himself able to receive the comfort he was desperate to receive.
The cure for Asaph's condition was not through his circumstances changing but from a change of perspective. When Asaph looked for comfort he found none, yet when he considered God comfort came. He admitted his weakness before God and meditated on God rather than his trouble or current feelings. Psalm 77:10-13 says, "And I said, "This is my anguish; but I will remember the years of the right hand of the Most High." 11 I will remember the works of the LORD; surely I will remember Your wonders of old. 12 I will also meditate on all Your work, and talk of Your deeds. 13 Your way, O God, is in the sanctuary; who is so great a God as our God?" Remembering what God said and did in the past was a key to walk in God's comfort moving forward.
In light of your current difficulties, do you find yourself to be like Jacob or Asaph? We can stubbornly refuse comfort, and other times we are unable to receive it despite seeking God. Admit your anguish before the LORD, remember the works of the LORD, and talk of God's deeds. This is not a formula to be followed but a biblical pattern established for our help and comfort. Only God can pull us from the pit of depression and despair, and the scripture reveals us what we can do to cooperate with God's will in receiving His comfort. We are greatly aided to receive God's comfort when we cease demanding or suggesting a course of divine action for God to take, humble ourselves before Him, and praise Him because we trust and love Him - in spite of trouble. This worship prepares our hearts to experience joy, peace, and receive comfort from the "God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our tribulation."
There are instances in scripture when people suffered loss and received comfort by God. There are others who experienced such a depth of grief they were inconsolable. When Jacob saw Joseph's blood-stained coat of many colours, he imagined his son had been killed by wild beasts. Genesis 37:35 says, "And all his sons and all his daughters arose to comfort him; but he refused to be comforted, and he said, "For I shall go down into the grave to my son in mourning." Thus his father wept for him." Jacob's grief over the loss of one son for a while overwhelmed the comfort of others he loved in his family. Strong negative emotions can overwhelm us and hinder us from receiving comfort intends for us. When the male babies were slaughtered in Bethlehem by Herod comfort seemed beyond belief (Jer. 31:15).
It does not take immense personal tragedy to feel cut off from the comfort of God. We are not told the circumstances, but the psalmist Asaph candidly wrote in Psalm 77:1-3, "I cried out to God with my voice-- to God with my voice; and He gave ear to me. 2 In the day of my trouble I sought the Lord; my hand was stretched out in the night without ceasing; my soul refused to be comforted. 3 I remembered God, and was troubled; I complained, and my spirit was overwhelmed. Selah." In his trouble Asaph remembered and sought the LORD, and knew he had been heard by God. But like hard-packed soil which water cannot penetrate, Asaph's soul repelled consolation from God and "refused to be comforted." Asaph looked to the God of comfort for comfort, but found himself able to receive the comfort he was desperate to receive.
The cure for Asaph's condition was not through his circumstances changing but from a change of perspective. When Asaph looked for comfort he found none, yet when he considered God comfort came. He admitted his weakness before God and meditated on God rather than his trouble or current feelings. Psalm 77:10-13 says, "And I said, "This is my anguish; but I will remember the years of the right hand of the Most High." 11 I will remember the works of the LORD; surely I will remember Your wonders of old. 12 I will also meditate on all Your work, and talk of Your deeds. 13 Your way, O God, is in the sanctuary; who is so great a God as our God?" Remembering what God said and did in the past was a key to walk in God's comfort moving forward.
In light of your current difficulties, do you find yourself to be like Jacob or Asaph? We can stubbornly refuse comfort, and other times we are unable to receive it despite seeking God. Admit your anguish before the LORD, remember the works of the LORD, and talk of God's deeds. This is not a formula to be followed but a biblical pattern established for our help and comfort. Only God can pull us from the pit of depression and despair, and the scripture reveals us what we can do to cooperate with God's will in receiving His comfort. We are greatly aided to receive God's comfort when we cease demanding or suggesting a course of divine action for God to take, humble ourselves before Him, and praise Him because we trust and love Him - in spite of trouble. This worship prepares our hearts to experience joy, peace, and receive comfort from the "God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our tribulation."
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