Seek Comfort

Introduction

This morning I would like to begin with a story from the Bible. There was once a man who had it all a great family, lots of money, servants, land, and livestock. He had everything a person could ever want. Then one day the enemy began to take it all away. Robbers stole his flocks, his children were all celebrating together and the roof fell on them killing them all. Then if that wasn’t bad enough his health began to suffer.

He was completely destitute. His friends came to him and tried to “comfort” him. Though they did not do a good job. They told him it was his fault, he must have sinned. But he maintained his innocence through it all.

He suffered for months before there was any reprieve, but in everything he relied on God. It was in God where he found his comfort.

If you didn’t already know the man’s name was Job. God eventually rebuked his friend and restored Job, giving him twice as much as he had before.

In our passage today Paul tells us that we must find our comfort in God. You can ......

Find Comfort in God Because God Love You

God choose to create you

He did not create you because he was bored

He did not create you because he was lonely

He created us to Worship him

He created us to reflect his image

He created us for his glory

He created us to steward his creation

You are all God’s chosen people

Ephesians 1:4 NIV

For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love

Student that was adopted

Find Comfort in God Because Suffered Too

God suffered greater than we could ever suffer

He lived a human life.

He was brought into the world through suffering

He lived a life just like any of us, knowing all of our pain and sufferings

He was rejected by those closest to him, the ones he though loved him most

Only one of his disciples (John), his mother, his aunt, Mary Magdalene and Mary the wife of Clopas were there.

James and the others had run off in the garden, and Peter had denied him three times

He died in one of the most horrendous ways possible.

Hung on a cross

Tortured

He suffered all this so he can empathize with our sufferings there is nothing we can go through that God has not already suffered.

Find Comfort in God So You can Comfort Others

God doesn’t just comfort us so that can be restored. He also comforts us so that we can comfort others.

When we take comfort in God’s creative work we must realize that all people were created in the image of God

Whether its someone who is hurting

Friend, Family member, Church member, or a stranger you come in contact

Or Someone who hurt us

Thomas a Kempis - “True faith is shown when you care more for the condition of the person that hurt you than for your own hurt.”

We were all created in God’s image so we all deserve God’s comforts

When we share in God’s suffering we can comfort others because we have suffered also and we understand their pain.

We have walked a mile in their shoes

Conclusion

Whenever you are hurting you should look no further than God for your comfort. He will be there with you through all things. He comforts us because he created us. He knows how to comfort us because he has experienced what we experience. There is no situation in which God won’t give you comfort. So the next time you are hurting look to God for your comfort. Let us pray.