Comfort and Encouragement

By David Rowe

When we're afraid, when we're hurt, when we're worried, it's good to remember that our Father is the God of all comfort. He comforts us in our need, so that we can bring comfort to other people. He loves us so that we can love others. He gives us life so that we can wake up the sleepers around us.

"Don't be afraid!" said Gabriel to Mary, when he was about to give her the scariest news in history.

"Don't be afraid!" said Jesus to His friends, when He was about to leave them to be witnesses and martyrs.

"Don't be afraid!" says God to us.

You may feel that you're a small cog in a very big machine, or you may feel as if you are carrying the destiny of the world upon your shoulders. In some way, both are probably right! And either way, God is available to
comfort you. The word 'comfort' literally means 'with strength', just like the word 'encourage' literally means 'to cause courage'. The world is a hard place to be a Believer - life can be very tough - but God will give us the strength and courage we need.

So don't be afraid.

Apparently, that phrase - "Don't be afraid!" - appears 365 times in the Bible, probably because it's something we need to hear every day. Sometimes we're afraid of failing or of dying, but often it's more simple stuff like being worried about how other people see us (or would see us, if only they knew who we really are). But God sees you, He knows you - You're His to care about.

So let's not be fakers and hypocrites, looking good on the outside but inwardly wasting away with worry. Let's be children in the arms of God. May the Holy Spirit - the comforter - give us strength and courage to be ourselves in the best possible way.

And may it not stop at that. Having been comforted, let's be a comfort and an encouragement, a salt-seasoning to bring out the God-flavours of this earth. That's why we're here.


BIBLE PASSAGES TO LOOK AT:
- 2 Corinthians 1:3-7
- John 14:15-27
- Matthew 5:1-6:18
- Isaiah 41:9-16