COMFORT YOUR HEARTS
2 Thessalonians 2:16-17 NKJV
16 Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, and our God and Father, who has loved us and given us everlasting consolation and good hope by grace, 17 comfort your hearts and establish you in every good word and work.
There is just something soothing about knowing that God will comfort our hearts. This verse did not say He would bless our hearts. That would concern me, knowing the Southern definition for having my heart blessed. But comfort sounds good.
The word comfort means to aid, help, and encourage. And the fact that God is looking to comfort our hearts is, well, comforting. But this should be of no surprise. Verse sixteen says that Jesus gets involved in the process. So does our God and Father, who has loved us and given us everlasting consolation by his grace. Everlasting consolation is better defined as eternal encouragement. And good hope is more than simply a nice phrase. The Biblical usage of hope is not a wish but something more definitive. Hope is defined as the desire for good with the expectation of obtaining it. Biblical hope is an expectation of something good. So God’s grace has given us encouragement that will last for eternity and an expectation of good. As long as we exist, we will be encouraged and expecting something good. What a great way to live.
And for the present, we can look to the Lord to comfort our hearts. The more we walk with Him, the more we’ll experience His comfort in areas big and small. Twenty years ago, when a Category Five Hurricane was heading straight for Houston, I was not in a great state of mind. We had only been in our current building, new at the time, for four months, and the news of what the winds would do was devastating. This was the time when all of Houston was evacuating, and the highways were bumper-to-bumper from here to Dallas. I went into our prayer room at the church and was praying and talking to the Lord about this impending disaster. And as I was praying, I had a great sense of peace. I just knew in my heart that we were going to be just fine. My heart was comforted by the Holy Spirit revealing to me that we would not lose the building. And we were all okay. That was God comforting my heart.
I realize that was a really big thing. But I have sensed the comfort of God in small areas as well. Things I was concerned about, as I took them to the Lord, He was able to comfort my heart, and I was able to move forward in peace. If we see in God’s Word that He is the One who comforts us, then we can look to Him in situations big and small for His aid, help, comfort, and encouragement. If we never seek His comfort, we often will not find it. But if we simply talk to Him and ask Him for His help and strength in any area we are dealing with, we will get what we ask for. Joy and I prayed about every phase of a trip we recently took. We saw God’s help in things that may not have mattered to seasoned travelers, but we are not seasoned travelers.
Talk to the Lord about the areas of your life, big and small, that are causing you concern. He can and will comfort and strengthen your heart. Please note God works inside out. We sense His comfort before we see things around us change. But if we are comforted and strengthened in our hearts, we are going to be just fine.
PRAYER
Thank You, Father, for Your encouragement and positive expectation of good. Thank You for bringing comfort to my heart and strengthening me in every good word and work.