From Bruce and Stan, ‘God is in the Small Stuff and it All Matters:’
He is the source of every mercy and the God who comforts us. (2 Corinthians 1:3 NLT)
Comfort is a rare and wonderful gift. Do you remember a time when you were a kid and you badly needed some comfort? Perhaps it was something as simple as a skinned knee, but your mother took it seriously and gave you some comfort by kissing and then bandaging the hurt and telling you everything would be alright. Or maybe as you got older and someone you cared about hurt you deeply, a friend comforted you with words of encouragement.
Such memories are warm and wonderful. Yet sometimes the comfort of a loved one isn’t enough. Sometimes the hurt is so deep that no human words can help relieve the pain. No mere bandage can cover the damage.
That’s when you need to look beyond human comfort to something much more effective—the comfort of God. God really does provide comfort to those who call upon Him in times of need. The trouble is that many people are so busy blaming God for their troubles that they don’t even realize how close He is and how much He wants to comfort them. Unlike human comfort, which feels good for the moment, God’s comfort supplies strength and refreshment. At the root of God’s comfort is the idea of nearness. Indeed, when He comforts us, God calls us near.
Is God calling you near in your time of trouble? Go to Him in prayer and through His word. There you’ll find strength, safety, and solace. Are you hurting? Do you struggle with loneliness? God wants you to draw near to Him so you can feel His overwhelming love. Go ahead. Ask God for his comfort in every detail of your life.
. . . In the Small Stuff
- Looking back on what God has done for you strengthens your faith in the future.
- Even if you don’t feel God is close to you, it is possible to know He is near.
- Rather than using God to solve your problems, use your problems to get close to God.
- God doesn’t promise a life without difficulties. But He does promise that He will always be with you.
- We can’t always choose the situations that life brings to us, but we can choose the attitude we will use to face them.
- Sometimes the most effect words of comfort are no words at all.
- God’s comfort does not necessarily make you comfortable, but it will give you hope that tomorrow will be a better day.
- God may not give you comfort if it keeps you from doing what He wants you to do.
- It is possible for God to give you comfort without removing your adversity.
- God’s comfort may be just what you need to deal with your adversity.
- One of the reasons God comforts us is so that we can comfort others.
- Never attach strings to the comfort you give someone else.
- If you don’t know how to give comfort to others, try putting yourself in their place.
- Our ultimate comfort is that someday we will be with God.
~ Bruce Bickel and Stan Jantz, God is in the Small Stuff, and it all matters (Barbour Publishing, Inc., Uhrichsville, Ohio 44683, 1996), 130-35
(Posts with a preamble asterisk are for a more general audience and not specific to teachings of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.)
