Comfort

Matthew 5:4 “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.” 

Have you ever lost someone very close to you and mourned?  Maybe you have lost someone through a death, a move, a broken relationship, or my most recent loss, the loss of a job, no matter the situation mourning occurred.  When you lose someone or something, people try to comfort you and give you words of encouragement but generally there is nothing that they can say or do that really helps much.  For me the most comfort comes from those that are in the situation with me and  fully understand what I am going through because they are going through it with too.  I think of the loss of my mother and my father-in-law.  I was comforted by other family members who were experiencing the same loss but I was also comforted by the Holy Spirit.  I know this because I had a peace that surpassed all understanding in both of those losses.  Being surrounded by those who loved them as much as I did also gave me comfort because I knew we would be there to uplift each other.  It seemed like if one was falling apart the other was strong and then the roles would reverse and the one who had been comforted was now the one being comforted.

When I lost my job though, I was all alone.  All of my co-workers found other jobs, my students found their place in another school setting, but I remained unemployed and uneasy.  I felt as though I was not wanted, needed, or cared for.  All of their lives continued but mine came to a complete halt.  As I began to write this blog, I began to feel like I had found a place for me during this difficult time.  I found a peace in having a women’s Bible study in my home where we could talk about the Bible and how the Lord could help us with our life issues.  I found joy in being unemployed, I felt comforted.  But, every time I apply for a job and get no response back, I begin to mourn again.  I become frustrated and uneasy.  I wonder where this comfort is that the Lord promises to provide.  It is not always an instant comforting feeling and then I have to think of Job. He lost his livestock and most importantly his children but Job did not blame God but rather praised Him.  He then became ill and his wife advised him to “curse God and die” but Job held firm to His faith that He should praise God in all situations.  His friends came and wept with him and sat in silence with him because he was in so much pain.  Throughout Job he struggles and he does not find comfort.  His wife cannot bring him comfort nor can his friends bring him comfort but Job does one thing, he holds on to the truth that there is an Almighty God.  He struggles and is in pain, he knows the truth, holds on to his integrity but he also feels useless and wants to die.  But he continues to wait and the Lord finally speaks.  When all is said and done the Lord speaks to Jobs friend, Eliphaz, and says, “I am angry with you and your two friends, because you have not spoken  of me what is right, as my servant Job has.” Job 42:7b   As we read on, Job 42:10 - 117 tells us how his life changed through his trials and how he lived the latter part of his life,

“After Job had prayed for his friends, the LORD made him prosperous again and gave him twice as much as he had before.  (11) All his brothers and sisters and everyone who had known him before came and ate with him in his house. They comforted and consoled him over all the trouble the LORD had brought upon him, and each one gave him a piece of silver and a gold ring. (12) The LORD blessed the latter part of Job’s life more than the first.  He had fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels, a thousand yoke of oxen and a thousand donkeys. (13)And he also had seven sons and three daughters. (14)The first daughter he named Jemimah, the second Keziah and third Kere-Happuch. (15) Nowhere in all the land were there found women as beautiful as Job’s daughters, and their father granted them an inheritance along with their brothers. (16)After this, Job lived a hundred and forty years; he saw his children and their children to the fourth generation. (17)And so he died, old and full of years.

  

Job did not always feel the comfort of the Lord during his time of trials and even wanted to die to get away from those trials but he remained faithful to the Creator of this world, to the Creator of his life and he found comfort in the LORD.  He had heard of the LORD but now he had heard the LORD,

In this beatitude we are promised comfort but in order to have comfort pain must exist.  Life will bring about disappointments and hurts but the promise of comfort during those times comes from the Lord.  When hurts, disappointments, and pain come your way, remember comfort is not far behind.  In those times of distress seek the Lord for He is the one that provides comfort beyond measure. 

Seeking Him with all my heart,

Sheila