The Comfort of God   

Paul experienced a great many difficulties in life; his was not a sheltered life in any way. He was shipwrecked, stoned and beaten, imprisoned, and suffered poor health. He suffered all kinds of opposition, the misunderstanding of friends, and all kinds of Satanic devices.
But still in 2 Corinthians 1:3-5, Paul said, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort...” Paul went on to use the word comfort five times in that passage, but it was not because he was deficient in his vocabulary; it was deliberate.
The word comfort is a very good and strong word. It is from the Greek word paraklesis, which means “called to help, called to one's side.” It conveys the idea of a summons which brings reinforcements coming to your aid. The very next word in the Greek lexicon of NT words is the noun parakletos, which means comforter or helper. This word refers to the One who is called to bring comfort and reinforcement. It is found 5 times in NT Scripture, referring to both Jesus, our advocate (1 John 2:1), and the Holy Spirit, our helper and comforter (John 14:16, 26; 15:26; 16:7).
We have some very powerful help on our side. When we are hurting, when things aren’t going just the way we would like, even when our prayers aren’t being answered just the way we would like, we need to know we always have a God who loves us, a God who cares enough to always send us the help and comfort we truly need.

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