God of All Comfort

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. For as we share abundantly in Christ's sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too. If we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; and if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which you experience when you patiently endure the same sufferings that we suffer. Our hope for you is unshaken, for we know that as you share in our sufferings, you will also share in our comfort.” (2 Corinthians 1:3-7 ESV)

The Scriptures teach us that if we are followers of Jesus Christ that we will be hated and persecuted for the sake of the name of Jesus, for the sake of his gospel message, and for the sake of righteousness. And to be a follower of Jesus Christ means that we must deny self, die daily to sin, and follow him in obedience to his commands (New Covenant) in holy living, and no longer as slaves to sin. And as followers of Christ we will also be those who are telling people the truth of the gospel and who are refuting Satan’s lies.

Some of us have suffered afflictions and persecutions most all of our lives from various people and in many different ways because Satan has been fighting against us and against what God had planned for our lives from even before he created the world, and this began early on. I know the devil has been fighting hard against me at least from age 6 to the present (age 74). First it was my father who was a physical and sexual and verbal abuser, and then there were others of like kind who took advantage, too.

And then there were pastors and elders of church congregations who mistreated me, too, who falsely accused me of what I did not do based on their own prejudices and false impressions and wrongful judgments, and who were unkind and mean and cruel to me, and some who kicked me to the curb, and who told me that they were warned about people like me, i.e. “people with strong convictions.” And some did not like me because I spoke the truth and not the lies, and so they cast me aside and rejected me.

And then, and I say this tenderly, I married a man who was a sex addict, i.e. who was addicted to sexual immorality and idolatry and adultery, although I did not know this for many years. And this has been going on all of our nearly 52 years of marriage. But I remain hopeful that he will make that change that he knows he must make, and he may or may not be going in that direction now. And he has made public his struggle many times, and I have previously shared my testimony on this subject, too.

And then there was a period of time when Satan wore me down, and I had had so much persecution and mistreatment piled on top of me that I finally caved to the pressure and I gave in to the flesh and I did the unthinkable. But the Lord brought me back around and eventually he called me to this present ministry 20 years ago, and I have been following him in obedience all this time, although not necessarily with absolute perfection all the time. But I have not gone backwards, but only forward – all glory to God!!

And I share all this with you because the Lord is leading me to do so, but because that is what this passage of Scripture is all about. For how can I comfort you if you are going through what I went through if you don’t even know that I went through it, or that I am going through it. I can only comfort you, if you are going through any of what the Lord has allowed in my life, if you are aware that I have gone through it and that I am still going through some of it, and so I can share with you the encouragement I received from God.

I have forgiven all my persecutors and all who did evil against me and I have no bitterness of heart and mind against any of them. I am at peace with my past and with my present, knowing and understanding fully that God has me where he has me for his purposes, and that he has allowed all that he has allowed in my life to make me into the person he wanted me to be so that I can be used of him in the way in which he is now using me and has been using me particularly these past 20 years.

It took me until I was age 52 before I fully comprehended this, though. For one thing the Lord taught me back then is that I had unforgiveness in my heart toward Jesus because he did not rescue me from all that persecution and mistreatment that I had faced in my life. And that was partly because I did not fully grasp his sovereignty over my life in allowing all that he did in order to make me who I am today. And so I had to accept his sovereignty over my life and accept that he is working all things for good in my life.

And I also fought off Satan like an abused child with hands crisscrossed in front of me knowing I was going to get hit. So I had to learn that Jesus already won this battle for me and I had to fight off Satan offensively and not just defensively. I had to get out that sword of the Spirit and fight Satan with full confidence that this battle has already been won for me. But that doesn’t mean that it is always easy. I still cry sometimes. I still hurt. But then I just pour it all out to the Lord, I forgive, and I keep moving forward.

So, if you are someone reading this who has gone through anything similar to what I have gone through in my life, my encouragement to you is to surrender it all over to the Lord, submit to his sovereignty over your life, believe that God is working all this for good in your life, forgive everyone who has done evil against you, and don’t become embittered against the Lord for not rescuing you. Fight off Satan’s attacks, believing that the victory is already yours in Christ Jesus, and know that God allowed all of this to make you into the person he wants you to be for his glory and purposes.

Then just be who God created you to be, in his power and strength. And don’t fear what others will say about you or do to you. Do what God has called you to do and has prepared you all your life to do. And do it even if everyone else deserts you or turns away from you or rejects you or persecutes you in return. For if you are serving the Lord and his purposes, God is going to use you to make a difference in other people’s lives, and to give them the encouragement you received from the Lord.

All Through the Night  

An Original Work / December 7, 2013

Based off Various Scriptures

Blessed are you when you’re persecuted

Because of your faith in Jesus Christ.

Blessed are you when people insult you,

And falsely say what leads folks to doubt.

Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is

Great in the heavens. You’re not alone.

When you are persecuted in one place,

Flee to another. God will be there.

You will be hated by all the nations

Because you testify of God’s grace.

Many will seize you and persecute you,

And put to death the foll’wers of Christ.

Yet do not fear what humans may do to you,

For I’m with you all through the night.

I tell you, love your enemies with my love,

And forgive as I forgave you.

Pray for those who do evil against you.

Rest in my love and grace from above. 

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