Comfort Ye One Another
About a year ago, I was reading “The Gentle Art of Domesticity” by Jane Brockett. One of the chapters introduced the thought that everyone has a few special things that contribute to their comfort. Awareness of these special comforts for yourself and those that live or visit in your home, enable the homemaker to provide a comfortable home. We are very familiar with the common comfort foods people enjoy indulging in, because they make a deep emotional connection. I could easily live the rest of my life never eating poultry stuffing, unless somehow my grandma could come back to life and concoct her version with a pint of heavy cream, butters and what ever else she did to it. We all know of some child who favors a special blanket that they use until it is a rag, hardly able to justify any useful purpose for comfort, and I have a special pillow that without it, I can’t seem to have a good nights sleep. Our comforts then involve emotional connections to the taste, touch, smell, sound, or appearance of things. We understand this level of comfort very well, but I wondered if a Christian homemaker might also benefit from understanding what the Bible says about our spiritual comforts, and endeavor to include them in her domesticity.
In studying the many scriptures on the topic of comfort, I decided that II Corinthians 1-7 is a good place to begin.
“Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort; 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. For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also aboundeth by Christ. And whether we be afflicted, it is for your consolation and salvation, which is effectual in the enduring of the same sufferings which we also suffer: or whether we be comforted, it is for your consolation and salvation. And our hope of you is stedfast, knowing, that as ye are partakers of the sufferings, so shall ye be also of the consolation.”
With this passage, we learn a remarkable idea that I have underlined. God of all comfort, comforts us, so that we can comfort others. First it is important to recognize, that if you are not a child of God, you are missing out on a tremendous good deal of comfort. If this is a concern for you, read the page about being “Hungry and Thirsty”, two things that make one very uncomfortable. Second, we learn that God, ever the example of goodness, expects us to be the same. It is true in all of life, in the secular and even more so in the spiritual, that with privilege comes responsibility.
I don’t think we truly believe that the life of faith in Christ comes with trials, because if we did, we would not be so caught of guard when we suffer trials, and we would be more prepared and ready to offer consolation to those who are in a trial. Paul gives us some insight how we can handle this responsibility better. When we witness the faithful who go before us, enduring hard trials to enable the Gospel to go forth to bring salvation to others, we should observe how God brings them comfort. In this passage above, Paul wants us to know and believe that just as we are sure to suffer trials for Christ’s sake, we will be sure to be comforted. This is why it is so important to read missionary stories and biographies of faithful men and woman to understand their testimonies of how they endured their trials, and how God ministered to them. We also need to read our Bible through frequently to understand all the circumstances the Bible characters endured that God has recorded for our example. Remember you cannot give away something you do not have. God expects us to have wisdom, understanding and knowledge to be a source of comfort to one another. Provide copies of the Bible, and books about missionaries and men and women of faith in your guest rooms. Also arrange for quiet places for reading with these materials readily available.
The Bible itself is to be a source of comfort to us. Psalm 119: 50 testifies that “This is my comfort in my affliction: for thy word hath quickened me.” As I have grown in my faith, I have been appreciating how comforting the words of scripture are to my heart and mind. Life can bring many disappointments, worries, and fears. When I feel greatly afflicted over some incident in my life, it is a great comfort to read my Bible and know that God has everything under control, if I will just wait on him. Also, memorizing scripture can be a tremendous comfort. Even the most commonly memorized passage, the twenty-third Psalm, has offered me hope and patience to wait upon the Lord in a trial. I can be reminded that I cannot be without my needs met if the Lord is my shepherd. Sometimes I am in a green pasture and don’t know it! Sometimes I have disobeyed and not followed his leading to the still waters. He will make me walk in paths of righteousness, because he will not loose any sheep the father has given him (John 10:29).
Did you know that God may send someone to give you an exhortation for your comfort, or even ask you to comfort someone in this manner? My mother-in-law was telling me the other day about these shots she has to have, one in each eye every month, for her menacular degeneration. If that were not enough, the pill she has to take to tolerate the shots, causes her to keep to her bed for two days, until the drug leaves her body. One time, she insisted that she would forgo the pill before the shot, because she did not want to go home to bed to recover from it. As you can imagine, it was a disaster, and the shot was far too painful, so for her comfort, she has to take the pill and loose a day or two recovering. This is also akin to the idea that well people are not comforted by hospitals, but someone having a heart attack or a broken leg gladly rides in the ambulance to get there. I say these things to help you understand how exhortation is for comfort. In I Thessalonians 2:11-12 God intended us to be comforted by exhortation: “As ye know how we exhorted and comforted and charged every one of you, as a father doth his children, That ye would walk worthy of God, who hath called you unto his kingdom and glory.” And again in Hebrews 3:13, “But exhort one another daily, while it is called To day; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.” Not only are we charged to exhort one another, but God has given us pastors and teachers to “reprove, rebuke, exhort with all long suffering and doctrine.” II Timothy 4:2. When we get all prickly about someone exhorting us about something remiss in our spiritual life, or feel uncomfortable obeying the leading of the holy spirit to discuss a matter with someone about Godly living, it is akin to trying to take painful shots with no pain killer, or forgoing the hospital with an acute problem. Jesus said in Luke 5:31 that “they that are whole need not a physician; but they that are sick”. We heard the testimony of a preacher last Sunday, say that he was thankful for the exhortation to get the victory over smoking, because after he headed the caring advice, and got the victory, God began working in his life to become a pastor. He testified to many blessed years of service to the Lord as a result. Exhortation may not be your idea of comfort, but if heeded, it can result in years of blessing you would not have otherwise. Caring homemakers would think nothing of ministering to the physically sick in their homes, and yet we shirk from doing it for the spiritually unwell people, and are offended when someone wants to offer us the healing balm of truth.
It is also a comfort to remind one another of Christ’s return to this earth to take away his church that remains, and that he will resurrect the bodies of those who died before his return, so that we may all be with him forever. I am of the age now, where I have attended a lot of funerals. When I was a young child, I was blessed to not have suffered the loss of anyone important to me, but it was not long before loved ones began to leave this life, and now, the older I get, the more often loved ones pass away. Paul does not want us to be with out hope on this matter.
” But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words.” I Thessalonians 4:13-18.
Have you considered that your care and concern for others time, and belongings pleases God? We live in a very self centered culture that encourages pushing ahead, looking out for number one, coupled with a very materialistic society that encourages the latest, greatest, newest, most fashionable, item with every season. Philippians 2:1-4 tell us that “If there be therefore any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any bowels and mercies, Fulfil ye my joy, that ye be like minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind. Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves. Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others. “ I am particularly challenged as a homemaker to be content with what I have, make it last, and keep it functioning out of respect for my husbands paycheck as it represents his life, or time he traded for that money. We also need to be careful not to bring too much into the home in the first place that requires more time and attention that could be given to people instead of our things. Right now I am thinking of hobbies that can take up space, time, and resources with out offering any real spiritual or physical comfort to anyone. I am a quilter, and it would take very little trouble on my part to turn space a guest might use, into a sewing studio, or to have fabrics, batting, and gadgets consuming storage space that might contribute to other’s comforts, or to be spending so much time sewing, you loose sensitivity to what is going on in the lives of people about you. I have had to give careful thought to the boundaries of expense, time, and space my hobbies will have, and I encourage others to do the same. Sometimes we might have to forsake our own comforts for those of another.
God wants us to abound in our consolations to others. He has given us many resources to aid us by offering his own example, giving us the scriptures to study and meditate, looking to Jesus and and his example, also through our pastors and teachers, and the examples of other faithful men and women who have endured, also through the blessed hope of his soon return, and willingness to allow the Holy Spirit to work through us as we put others before ourselves. I would challenge you to study more about comfort in the Bible and gain wisdom, knowledge, and understanding about how God has planned for our comforts in this life and the one to come.