Receive God's Comfort

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."

Zeal and Burnout

I've been reading a little book given to pastors at the last conference I attended.  It is titled Zeal Without Burnout by Christopher Ash.  He uses a term I think is very wise to apply to our lives:  sustainable.  We recognise the wisdom of sustainability in energy production and use, in forestry, fishing, and farming.  If we over-fish or cut down trees without replenishment, it will only be a matter of time until alavailable resources are consumed.  These same sensible considerations ought to be applied to our approach to family, work, Christian ministry, and our lives in general.

When I first became a mechanical insulator, I was given a physically taxing job in Los Angeles - when I was living in San Diego!  The foreman told me, "If you can handle this job, you can do anything."  My hours at the Chevron refinery began at 6am (all had to be at the gate by 5:45am for a ride into the refinery) and concluded at 6pm 7 days a week.  I had to rise at 3:30am to pick up my brother and so began a long day.  For a majority of the day we worked in hot, uncomfortable conditions removing asbestos in containment wearing full-face respirators.  I would arrive home after 8pm, eat dinner, visit with my sweet wife for an hour, and go to bed exhausted.

Thankfully, this job lasted only six or seven weeks.  It felt like it lasted a year!  I was grateful when the refinery restricted our hours to 6 days and 10 hours a day.  After almost two months of that job it was clear to my brother and I it was simply not sustainable.  We were wearing out and when an opportunity came to work locally we jumped at the chance.  The human body has physical limits, and it is sometimes easier for me to tell when I am physically exhausted than mentally and emotionally spent.  It doesn't mean it is easy for me to admit it! :)  Yesterday I worked in the yard a bit too long and my body reminded me all evening I am not 25 years old anymore.  Burnout is a bit more tricky to discern than sore muscles and a sunburn.  Christopher Ash wrote concerning avoiding burnout,

"It is good to develop a healthy self-knowledge about what energizes us - what the Holy Spirit uses to bring us that inward renewal.  But these activities will never be enough on their own to bring us true spiritual renewal.  Each of us needs our personal devotional times with God:  times of Bible reading and prayer, times to be glad to be in Christ, times of thoughtful reflection before the Lord:  times to be refreshed.  It is not selfish to guard those times, any more than it is selfish for a firefighter to take a break before heading back into the fire.  Indeed, if we do not give space for renewal, there will soon be nothing left of us to give." (Ash, Christopher. Zeal without Burnout. Good Book, 2016. 77. Print.)

How important it is to know what God has called us to do and respect our limitations.  We should do all we do heartily as unto the LORD, but not to the point where our lives and ministry cannot be sustained healthily.  God is the One who sustains us, for without Him we can do nothing.  We can do all things through Jesus Christ, but it is not for us to do everything.  Let us be about the LORD's business and walk circumspectly, knowing He is the One who will accomplish all.  There is a way we can have so much responsibility we cease to be responsible concerning our bodies, family, and ministry.  Cessation of activity alone does not cancel burnout, but resting in Christ and waiting on the LORD brings renewal.  A break from the grind may be what God has for you, and may obedience to take a break as an act of faith in God be bountifully rewarded with increased fruitfulness.

The Greatest Of All

Yesterday I preached on God's righteous Servant, Jesus Christ.  Unless God explicitly revealed the truth to us in His Word, it is unfathomable how the God who created all things would humble Himself and become a servant (Philippians 2:5-8), even facing the cross for the sake of sinners.  Jesus Christ has given us an example so we might follow in His footsteps, but has also provided the indwelling Holy Spirit to empower and enable us to walk in righteousness.

In Luke 17:7-10, Jesus appealed to the good sense of His disciples concerning a typical relationship between a master and his servants.  Jesus said, "And which of you, having a servant plowing or tending sheep, will say to him when he has come in from the field, 'Come at once and sit down to eat'? ⁸ But will he not rather say to him, 'Prepare something for my supper, and gird yourself and serve me till I have eaten and drunk, and afterward you will eat and drink'? ⁹ Does he thank that servant because he did the things that were commanded him? I think not. ¹⁰ So likewise you, when you have done all those things which you are commanded, say, 'We are unprofitable servants. We have done what was our duty to do.'"  It was customary for servants to prepare for their master, and after serving the master the servants would eat.  It was no badge of honour for a servant to serve his master, for it was his duty to do so!  Servants of God ought not to think more highly of ourselves than we ought because we are responsible to obey God, to love and serve others.  It is what we have been saved by grace to do!  If God is our King, as His loyal subject we should serve Him.

God is in the business of blowing minds, and I love it when God shocks me with a verse I didn't notice before.  The verse which shocked me was one that reversed this natural order of things.  Jesus told His disciples to be free of worldly entanglements and to be ready for Him and in Luke 12:35-37 said, "Let your waist be girded and your lamps burning; ³⁶ and you yourselves be like men who wait for their master, when he will return from the wedding, that when he comes and knocks they may open to him immediately. ³⁷ Blessed are those servants whom the master, when he comes, will find watching. Assuredly, I say to you that he will gird himself and have them sit down to eat, and will come and serve them."  Isn't verse 37 astounding?  For the servants who are faithful and ready, the master will gird himself, have them sit down to eat, and will come and serve them!  The servants will be served by the master!  This reminded me of the amazing thing Jesus did after the Last Supper before going to the cross.  He directed His disciples to prepare for the Passover meal, and after the meal was over stripped down, put a towel around his waist, and washed all the disciples' feet.  It made me think at the Marriage Supper of the Lamb Jesus will not remain seated on His rightful throne, but will serve His servants, and such grace is impossible for me to grasp fully.

God is a glorious King, and He gives us grace upon grace.  The Saviour who insisted John baptise Him to "fulfill all righteousness" and washes feet is the God we are to worship and emulate.  He delights to humble Himself and serve, and what a joy it is to follow in His footsteps as led by the Spirit.  Greatness in God's kingdom is not earned but marked by humility, submission, and obedience to God and others.  When the disciples were arguing over who was the greatest Jesus set them straight in Matthew 20:25-28:  "But Jesus called them to Himself and said, "You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those who are great exercise authority over them. ²⁶ Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you, let him be your servant. 
²⁷ And whoever desires to be first among you, let him be your slave-- ²⁸ just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many."

Hills and Valleys

"Then Job answered the LORD and said: ² "I know that You can do everything, and that no purpose of Yours can be withheld from You."

Job 42:1-2

When I injured my knee, I was referred to have scans of various kinds:  an x-ray, ultrasound, and ultimately an MRI.  All of these scans have their purpose and all of them have limitations.  It does no good to have a scan performed unless you have an expert to analyse and interpret it!  After the results were provided to my doctor, she referred me to a knee specialist.  This specialist scheduled me for surgery he later performed, yet he did not do this alone.  A nurse prepared the area for the incision, an anesthetist with an assistant, plus many more people in the operating theatre.  This is an example of how many medical specialists worked together to reconstruct a knee, each having a particular area of expertise.

Similar to this, ancient gods all had particular areas of control.  Some gods were believed to control the sun, caused the rain to fall, brought good luck or fertility, protected the home, healed, and caused lightning to strike.  Different cultures had their own idols and deities they were loyal to through worship and sacrifice.  Among the Greeks and Romans their god resembled our modern-day superheroes, each with "superpowers," strengths, and weakness.  Some can fly, use telepathy, shape-shift, create illusions, and become invisible.  Each has their own area of expertise they use for good or evil.  The Jews were unique among the nations because they worshiped only one God.  This seemed strange to other cultures:  why not have many gods to cover all the bases?  What if the sun didn't rise or crops didn't grow? They didn't realise the God of Israel is the Almighty God who created all things.  There is nothing beyond His view or removed from His awesome power.  He is the eternal, self-existent, and all-powerful God before whom all other spirits and gods are nothing.

The northern kingdom of Israel fought against Syrians who were struck down before them.  The Syrians explained why they lost the previous battle in 1 Kings 20:23, "Then the servants of the king of Syria said to him, "Their gods are gods of the hills. Therefore they were stronger than we; but if we fight against them in the plain, surely we will be stronger than they."  What they didn't realise was the God of the Jews is the God who created all things - the hills, plains, seas, mountains, the sun, moon, and stars.  He is the God of everything and everyone!  1 Kings 20:28 gives us the response of God:  "Then a man of God came and spoke to the king of Israel, and said, "Thus says the LORD: 'Because the Syrians have said, "The LORD is God of the hills, but He is not God of the valleys," therefore I will deliver all this great multitude into your hand, and you shall know that I am the LORD.'"  The God who knows all things, speaks, and reveals Himself with a mighty hand gave the Jews the victory.  The Jews, Syrians, and all nations of the earth shall know God is LORD of all!

God is nothing like an idol that has areas of strength or weaknesses but is God over all.  After Job received a revelation of God's power he said humbly, "I know that You can do everything, and that no purpose of Yours can be withheld from You."  God is able to heal, comfort, and strengthen us in  mind, body, and soul.  He supplies guidance, counsel, and provides for our physical needs.  He is God of heavens, earth, sea, and all that is in them.  He gives wisdom and knowledge, and in Him all things consist (Col. 1:17).  Praise the LORD for revealing Himself to us as the God of the hills and the valleys.  In both good and bad times He is still God, and is able to save and deliver us.