- 160. God Comforts
2 Corinthians 7:6-7 Nevertheless God, that comforteth those that are cast down, comforted us by the coming of Titus; And not by his coming only, but by the consolation wherewith he was comforted in you, when he told us your earnest desire, your mourning, your fervent mind toward me; so that I rejoiced the more.
Paul was comforted by the coming of Titus, and Titus was comforted by the Corinthian church. Paul attributes this comfort to God. For He is a God who comforts us; that is God’s nature. That is, God will comfort us when we are cast down, depressed or just feeling bad. He is the God of all comfort. He promises to comfort us always for He is always with us. And we can count on Him to comfort us when we really need it. The devil, the world and our own sinful flesh cause many conditions in life in which we need comforting. The Holy Spirit, living in us, is also called the Comforter.
We don’t know how God will do it and He uses many different ways, but in one way or another God often uses the Word of God. The Gospel forgives sin; sin is the cause of much discomfort. The Holy Spirit will use almost any part of God’s Word to speak comfort to our hearts. The uncomfortable conditions may not change right away, but our hearts are stilled and comforted for real.
As in this verse regarding the coming of Titus, the Lord very often uses other people to bring His comfort.We may see the people or the changed circumstances doing the comforting, but the believer knows who it is who is really comforting, God the Comforter. Believing this promise we will more often thank God for sending someone who seems to intentionally or unintentionally comfort us. We need other people, but we need the Lord even more. Thank God for His caring and comforting, even though He uses people to do His work. When we ask God for help and comfort let Him send boats or planes or people, and rejoice in the comfort.