Comforted by the Lord

“For even when we came into Macedonia, our bodies had no rest, but we were afflicted at every turn—fighting without and fear within. But God, who comforts the downcast, comforted us by the coming of Titus, and not only by his coming but also by the comfort with which he was comforted by you, as he told us of your longing, your mourning, your zeal for me, so that I rejoiced still more.” (2 Corinthians 7:5-7 ESV)

Now I am not going to go into all the history behind this section of Scripture, so if you want to know what it is, well, you pretty much have to read all of 1st and 2nd Corinthians in context to really grasp its meaning. And the reason that I am not going to go into all of it is that I am being led of the Lord here just to take this situation and to make it applicable to our lives today. For we all go through trials and tribulations which test our faith, don’t we? Some of us will have greater trials than others, but we all go through something.

Have you ever had times in your lives when your bodies had no rest? If you have ever been a parent of small children, especially if you are the mother, then you can certainly relate. Small children require continual care and watching over, and so they take up a lot of time and effort. And it doesn’t matter what you are going through personally, they still need your care. Even if you are sick and vomiting with a fever and a cough, you still have to take care of them, even if they also are vomiting and have fevers.

And if you are suffering an illness where you are in a great deal of pain or when your head is so stuffed up to where it is hard to breathe laying down, then you don’t get much rest, either. Or if you are having to work long shifts at your job, or if you are in the process of packing up your belongings to move to another location, or if you are in the process of moving and are now unpacking and setting up “home” somewhere else, you are probably not getting much rest. Or if you are living in a shelter, you may not rest well.

Any of these types of situations may also contribute to us being afflicted at every turn – fighting without and fear within. Or this can come from relationships with other people which are not going well, such as in a marriage situation where one spouse is being unfaithful to the other habitually and deliberately. Or this can have to do with relationships with others within the gatherings of the church where you have some who are serious about their walks of faith while others are more casual about faith.

And so those who take the Christian faith less seriously and more casually, they may be critical of us who take God and his word seriously and who believe that we are to follow his teachings and to obey his commandments in daily practice and that sin should no longer be our practice. And so we may face much opposition and persecution even within the gatherings of what are called “churches,” because so many “churches” have now gone the way of the world and are diluting the gospel message so as not to offend the world.

So, if you are someone who is in a church situation and/or a marriage situation where your spouse and/or your pastor and other professers of faith in Jesus do not take God and the Scriptures as seriously as you do, but who live more worldly lives and are more casual about their Christianity, and so you don’t fit in with them, and perhaps you are even being rejected and persecuted, you may feel downcast, at times, and lonely, and abandoned. And so you may be in much need to be comforted by the Lord Jesus.

But still, because you are human, and God made us to need one another, and to have fellowship with other Christians, if you are lacking in genuine biblical Christian fellowship, like the Scriptures teach of, with others who profess faith in Jesus Christ, or perhaps even with your spouse, you may long to be in true fellowship with other Christians where you can share one another’s burdens, and where you can encourage one another according to what the Scriptures teach. And so there is a tender place in your heart.

So, when and if the Lord sends other Christians into your lives for mutual encouragement in the Lord, according to the Scriptures, then you are greatly comforted. For this is God’s design that we should need one another and that we should be encouraged by one another. And encouragement is not just the feel-good stuff, especially if the feel-good stuff is a pack of lies. True encouragement has the will of God at the core, and so it includes holy urgings and exhortations, too, to help one another to walk by faith.

So true biblical encouragement includes us ministering to one another in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, for our mutual encouragement. And it includes sharing the Scriptures with one another and what the Lord is teaching us through them and how we are maturing in our walks of faith and obedience to our Lord the more that we learn what the Scriptures teach and we apply their truths to our daily lives. And it includes us speaking the truth in love to one another so that we are not hardened by sin’s deceitfulness.

[Romans 12:1-8; 1 Corinthians 12:1-31; 1 Corinthians 14:1-5; Galatians 6:1; Ephesians 2:8-10; Ephesians 4:1-16; Ephesians 5:15-21; Ephesians 6:10-20; Philippians 2:1-8; Colossians 3:12-16; Titus 2:11-14; Hebrews 3:13; Hebrews 10:23-25; James 5:19-20]

Oh, to Be Like Thee, Blessed Redeemer 

Lyrics by Thomas O. Chisholm, 1897

Music by W. J. Kirkpatrick, 1897

Oh, to be like Thee! blessèd Redeemer,

This is my constant longing and prayer;

Gladly I’ll forfeit all of earth’s treasures,

Jesus, Thy perfect likeness to wear.

Oh, to be like Thee! full of compassion,

Loving, forgiving, tender and kind,

Helping the helpless, cheering the fainting,

Seeking the wandering sinner to find.

O to be like Thee! lowly in spirit,

Holy and harmless, patient and brave;

Meekly enduring cruel reproaches,

Willing to suffer others to save.

O to be like Thee! while I am pleading,

Pour out Thy Spirit, fill with Thy love;

Make me a temple meet for Thy dwelling,

Fit me for life and Heaven above.

Oh, to be like Thee! Oh, to be like Thee,

Blessèd Redeemer, pure as Thou art;

Come in Thy sweetness, come in Thy fullness;

Stamp Thine own image deep on my heart.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KrYhiK2nQBg 

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