God created the heavens and the earth. All God created was good. Everything on earth was perfect. God created mankind in his own perfect image to rule over the perfect earth. Then came the disobedience that turned everything. Toil, sorrow, sickness, and death has been a bane for all mankind ever since.
The Need for Comfort
To comfort is to ease grief or distress. There was no grief or distress in the perfect environment God had placed them in. The environment that they brought upon themselves had all of that. And hence there was a need for comfort. The first usage of the word in the Bible occurs in Genesis 5:29 when Lamech named his son Noah. His words display a yearning for comfort from the labor and painful toil due to the ground God had cursed. Incidentally Noah means comfort.
Has God left us Uncomforted?
During trials, we often feel that God has abandoned us. This feeling is far from the truth. There is ample evidence in the Bible that God comforts. David had a difficult life. In all his difficult times, he experienced God’s rod and staff comfort him (Psalm 23:4). When threatened, he knew that his enemies would be put to shame as God helped and comforted him (Psalm 86:17). Other Psalmists have also expressed God’s comfort. God himself proclaims that he is the one who comforts us (Isaiah 51:12).
The Sheep and the Goats
We find this parable in Matthew 31-46. The sheep were invited to the inheritance. The goats were cursed to damnation. The reason was that the sheep category had displayed the ability to comfort others.
In another parable found in Luke 10:30-37, the good Samaritan was found to be better than the others as he had comforted the man who was robbed left by the wayside to die.
The Early Church
When Jesus was with his disciples, his presence was comforting to them. During his ministry, Jesus warned about his suffering, death, and resurrection. He also promised that in his absence, the Comforter would be sent. After Jesus was crucified, the disciples met in closed rooms for fear of the Jews. After his resurrection, Jesus comforted them and spoke peace to them.
On the day of Pentecost, the promised Comforter came. Great numbers were added to the church from that day on. The early church was an example of community living. They lived together and had everything in common (Acts 2:44). They sold their possessions and shared all the proceeds with others. No one was in need (Acts 4:32-35). This is the best example of how the early church comforted each other.
What God wants from us?
God wants us to be like the sheep in the parable. He wants us to like the good Samaritan. He wants to see in us the passion to comfort like the members of the early church. He has equipped us.
“Praise be to God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.” (1 Corinthians 1: 3,4 NIV).
