Apostolic Faith Tabernacle

Devotions With David

God Provides Comfort

2 Corinthians 1:3-4 (KJV)
3 Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort; 4 Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God.

Life has a way of bringing seasons of grief, disappointment, loneliness, and pain. No one is exempt from hardship. It doesn’t matter if you are a Christian or not, hardship is going to come. I have good news for you today. Paul says God is “the God of all comfort”.

Every kind of sorrow has a corresponding comfort in him. Wherever the pain comes from, God has a sufficient comfort for that wound. I found a list of eight different kinds of comfort. It includes:

Physical comfort
Emotional comfort
Psychological comfort
Social comfort
Environmental comfort
Intellectual comfort
Existential Comfort
Financial comfort

For each of these, the world offers situational things to offer comfort. Psychology defines comfort as a state of reduced stress in which a persons, physical, emotional, and psychological needs are being adequately met. Psychology says Comfort is closely associated with feelings of:
Safety
Security
Calmness
Relaxation
Confidence
Belonging
Emotional regulation

If you are looking for comfort outside of Christ, you will try to relieve the discomfort. We are told: “focus on reducing pain, stress and uncertainty”. What I would like to do today is to introduce you to the God of all comfort.

God comes near during our discomfort. He offers strength to continue. Instead of just removing hardship, God gives us his presence, peace and strength, so we can faithfully endure. The Greek word translated comfort (paraklēsis) carries the idea of someone coming alongside to encourage, strengthen and help them endure.

In Psalm 23 David tells us the Shepherd walks beside him through the valley of the shadow of death. He says his rod and staff comfort him. Notice the difference between the rod and staff. The shepherd’s rod is a stout, heavy club primarily used as a weapon for protection and defense against predators, while a staff is a longer wooden pole, often featuring a curved crook, used to guide, rescue, and gently draw sheep back to the flock. David is saying you protect me and guide me and that brings comfort.

Jesus tells his disciples in John 14 that he will not leave them comfortless, but that he will come again to them. He tells them he will prepare a place for them that they can be with him. The Holy Spirit continues to dwell with us today. It brings comfort through reminding us of God‘s promises and strengthening our weary hearts.

God doesn’t just give us comfort so that we can feel better or that we are more confident. Paul tells us that he comforts us so we can comfort others. It may seem strange, but there is a comfort in comforting others. When we can share what we have been through to help someone else get through their dark place, it helps us as well. God gives comfort to us, so we can bring comfort to others.

There are two things I want you to see in this devotion.

If you are hurting, God is not distant from your pain. He sees every tear, hears every prayer and is close to the brokenhearted. God doesn’t change our circumstances, he comforts us in our circumstances and that changes how we walk through them. The three Hebrew boys still had to go through the fire, but the king said I see four and the fourth one looks like the son of God. God may not say “peace be still” in the mist of your storm, he may simply go with you through it.

The second thing I want you to see is God gives you the ability to comfort others. What you have been through enables you to say I’m here to help however I can. It will do you good to comfort someone else. You may say “I don’t know what to do or say to them“. Your presence with them will help. Many times people remember the things you do, not the things you say.

Let me give you one personal example. Years ago I lost a friend who was a pastor. I wanted to do something. My wife and I went to his church and asked “How can we help?” Can you run the vacuum? Absolutely! Years later I had someone say to me, you’ll never know what it meant to us when we walked in the door and saw you running the vacuum cleaner. It seemed menial. Yet that one simple act made a lasting impression.

If you need comfort today, ask God to comfort you. He is the God of all comfort and will bring assurance in the midst of your situation.

If you see someone who needs comfort, provided it for them. You may not know what to do, but being there will speak volumes. Remember the God of all comfort, comforts you so you can comfort others. As always, if I can do anything for you reach out to me and I will do the best I can to help.

Devotions With David

God Provides Hope

Romans 15:13 (KJV)
13 Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost.

When we speak of hope most of the time it speaks of uncertainty. “I hope it doesn’t rain“ or “I hope I get the job”. We are used to speaking uncertainty. This kind of hope is often dependent on circumstances improving, people doing the right thing or chance and probability. When we feel hopeless, it can cause us to give up. Psychologist Charles Snyder describes Hope as the belief that “I can keep moving toward my goal” and “I can find another way if one path is blocked“. This kind of hope is viewed as a virtue that enables people to endure hardship by believing in that the future can be better than the present. I will say again that this hope is dependent on things changing. If we continue in this kind of hope and nothing changes, it can lead us to becoming hopeless and giving up.

This is why we need the hope that only God can give. The hope he gives is confident expectation that he will fulfill every promise he has made. Notice Paul said “the God of hope“. The ultimate definition of hope is that we will live in that place Christ has prepared for us.

Jesus never sugarcoated things. He said plainly to his disciples “in this world you will have tribulation“. If he had stopped there, we would be somewhat hopeless. But the promise he gives us is “I have overcome the world“. What Jesus accomplished on the cross is more than wishful thinking. It’s more than the hope we define as humans. It is knowing that what he said is true and believing we will experience it with him one day soon.

So in scripture, hope is:

Confidence in God‘s promises. Hebrews 10:23.

Expectation of God’s future work. Philippians 1:6.

An anchor for the soul. Hebrews 6:19.

Then Paul tells us in Colossians 1:27 that it is “Christ in you, the hope of glory”. Hope comes from knowing Jesus finished the work of redemption on Calvary.

Let me encourage you today for when you feel hopeless. Because we are human we have a range of emotions and it seems there are times we all feel hopeless, even when we know God is not going to fail us. In fact, there are some pretty recognizable names in scripture that seemed to feel hopeless.

David cried “why are you cast down all my soul?” Then he tells himself. “Hope in God“. Psalm 42:5.

Elijah asked God to take his life after the great spiritual victory on Mount Carmel. 1 Kings 19.

Paul even spoke of the hardships that tried to take his hope. 2 Corinthians 4:8–9.

Feeling hopeless is not proof that you are faithless. It can mean that your emotions have been overwhelmed by pain, loss, disappointment or prolonged waiting. If you are feeling that way today, I want you to do five things:

Tell God honestly how you feel, as David often did in the Psalms.
Read His promises daily, even when your emotions don’t agree.
Recall specific times God has answered prayer or carried you through past difficulties.
Stay connected with other believers who can encourage you.
Keep praying, even if your prayer is simply, “Lord, help me.”

It may be that your hope returns gradually. God is not mad at you when you feel hopeless. In fact, the picture that is painted in scripture is one of God caring for us where we feel despondent. When you read the story of Elijah in first Kings 19, you find that God did not rebuke him for feeling the way he did. It was the opposite. God gave him rest, food, his presence and ultimately a renewed purpose.

God doesn’t change our circumstances most of the time. He gives us power to overcome them. One more thing I’d like for you to do. It is based in Lamentations 3:21–23. I want you to meditate on this portion of scripture.

“This I recall to my mind, therefore have I hope. It is of the LORD’S mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness”.
The book of Lamentations is full of hopelessness. Jeremiah says in order to have hope I’m going to remember the Lord‘s mercies and his compassion. God is not against you. His mercy is New every morning. Run back to him today. Find the hope that is an expectant looking and waiting for his return. This is guaranteed because Jesus promised he would come again. There is a hope beyond what you’re dealing with today. It is the hope that is provided through the Holy Ghost.
It is the power to know God has not forsaken you even when it feels circumstances are saying otherwise. Let the God of Hope fill you with all Joy and peace. This is where our “confident expectation that God will fulfill every promise he has made” comes from. As always if I can do anything for you reach out to me and I will do the best I can to help.