September 5th, 2024
3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, 4 who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.
It was Horatio G. Spafford that penned the classic hymn, "It is well with my soul." Most of us can remember singing this melody at the most difficult and tragic moments of our life. It was no different for Spafford as sadness and sorrow was the main reason for his song. He and his family had set sail for a trip across sea and in the middle of the travel they collided with another vessel. While Spafford and his wife survived the wreckage, the couple suffered the loss of their four daughters. Amid this devastating event, somehow he was able to put words to song that would become an anthem for us today.
We are never immune from the dark troubles and heartaches of life. In fact, the Bible never pretends to offer us a picture-perfect world in which believers can exist on the earth in complete bliss with no tragedies. We read story upon story of God's people navigating rejection, loss, grief, death, anxiety, war, depression, sickness and every other unhappy moment we can think of. Even the Lord, Jesus sympathizes with the imperfect nature of life when He reminds us that "in this world we will have trouble" (John 16:33). Therefore, for all of us who have been through seasons of sadness and the pains of sorrows, we can be assured that Jesus understands what we may be going through (Hebrews 4:15). And it is because of that truth that despite our heavy disposition, we can find peace in the Lord of the universe.
When we are stuck in these phases of life, we are thrown into the fire with all sorts of temptations. Even beyond the normal question of "Why, Lord, is this happening to me," we also are tempted to ask "Where, Lord, have you gone?" Now, it is normal and even expected to feel the weight of all our emotions crashing together during these times but never does the Bible allow us to believe something wrong about our God. In other words, while it is possible to feel the sheer weight of our depression, it should be impossible for us to get to the point where we question the very love and character of our Father. Listen to the words of Paul in our passage. He is the Father of all compassion and the God of all comfort, and He comforts us in all our troubles. There is no exception to this and it remains true forever. God's abundant favour and undying mercy is continually directed to our very lives. So while we may find ourselves questioning many things in our discouragement, we dare not question if God's presence has left us. We must remember that it is impossible for God's presence to be taken away from us (Deuteronomy 3:18).
It is for our own good that we understand this; God won't always get rid of our troubles. It is a difficult truth to hear but nonetheless it is true. But why does it seem so often that God would withhold the quick fix for our pain and sorrow? Because, rather than soothing our soul with temporary things, God would rather us be comforted by the eternal peace of His own presence. His presence is what should comfort us in trouble. His presence is what should lift us in the valley of the shadow of death (Psalm 23:4). His presence is near to the brokenhearted and He's close enough to hear our cries of distress (Psalm 34:18). The question ought to be, do I desire something more than the very nearness and presence of my saviour? Is God just the means to getting to what makes me happy? Or is God the supreme source of all my happiness?
I believe that if God cured all our sadness with earthly things and temporary blessings, we might ultimately do away with Him altogether. Therefore, sometimes God allows seasons of darkness and disappointments so that we would turn our eyes upon Him. He weans us from the world and draws us to Himself. And sometimes, it is within the roughest seas that we sense the closeness of God the most.