Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, 4 who comforts us in all our troubles…

Here thanks are given to God for Who He is: ”…the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort…” and for what He does: ”…comforts us in all our troubles…” Note that big little word ”all”. We will face many trials in the course of our Christian lives, as we move through this God-hating, Christ-rejecting territory. But not one will come our way without God being able to reach us with His comfort. It may come directly to our souls. But it is often the case that He delivers His comfort through many an errand boy, or girl. Someone speaks a kind word, writes a letter or card which you receive just when you need it most; someone shares a meal with you, or expresses kindness in some other way. Need I go on? The Lord has multiple ways of getting His aid to us. Still today He has His ‘ravens’ (see 1 Kings 17:2-6).

David Pawson said that a lady told him once that she would like to hear him preach about comfort. When he asked her what kind of comfort she meant, he realised it was more about being ‘comfortable.’ The word ‘comfort’ may conjure in our minds the idea of a hot water bottle. However, when Jesus spoke of the Holy Spirit as a ”comforter” the word means ‘one called alongside to help. On another occasion, Pawson pointed out that the English word has at its heart the Latin word ‘fort‘. He said, ‘The Holy Spirit comes to turn you into a fortress for the day of battle.’ Someone else observed that the word has less of the ‘There, there now’ about it, and more of the ‘Up troops and at ’em!’

I understand that in the Bayeux Tapestry, which depicts the events of 1066 and all that, there is a caption which reads, ‘Bishop Odin comforteth his troops.’ What is Bishop Odin doing? He is prodding them back into the battle with his sword!

This is the type of comfort we all need at times, and will need in the future. It cannot be separated from the ministry of the Holy Spirit.