“Praise God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! The Father is a merciful God, who always gives us comfort. He comforts us when we are in trouble, so that we can share that same comfort with others in trouble.” 2 Corinthians1:3-5

Our 2 year old daughter, E, is by far our best sleeper. This girl can sleep through thunderstorms, strong winds blowing, the rest of the family making noise – you name, she can sleep through it. Except, this afternoon. I’m not sure what woke her, but she was crying in bed. I slipped into her room to try to coax her back to sleep. I wiped away her tears, calmed her, held her and kissed her. I succeeded in getting her back to sleep.

But, before I left, as I looked upon her, memories surfaced from my own childhood. I can remember waking up to fire sirens or storms and my mother would rush in to comfort me. I can remember how she would brush my hair off my face and tuck it behind my ear. Her soothing and gentle touch always lulled me back to sleep. I can also remember the times my father would tell me stories to comfort me when I was fallen or gotten hurt. He would tell me the best stories which would completely distract me from whatever was hurting.

This made me reflect on my ability as a grown woman to turn to my Heavenly Father as my source of comfort.

“The Father is a merciful God, who always gives us comfort.”

When my parents offered me comfort as a young girl, my pain did not go away, I was still scared of the storm or my bleeding knee still hurt. The same is true with our Heavenly Father. I believe some people think that when God comforts us, our troubles should go away. But, he wants us to come to him out of love for him, not only out of a desire to be relieved of pain. We must understand that being comforted can also mean receiving strength, encouragement, and hope to deal with our troubles; not just make them vanish. Our pain makes us stronger and we should view our troubles as opportunities for growth.

We cannot prevail with God unless we have troubles to prevail over. May this encourage you to seek and appreciate the comfort and encouragement found in his Word, his presence, and his people.