Tuesday, May 21, 2013

The God of All Comfort

"In the day of prosperity be happy, but in the day of adversity consider— God has made the one as well as the other" Ecclesiastes 7:14

The tragedy of the recent tornadoes is utterly devastating. It is truly unthinkable to imagine what the family members of victims and those who lost all their possessions are going through. My freshman year of college at Union University, an F-4 tornado ripped through the campus destroying 80% of our buildings. I can easily recall the terror and horror of the evening.  In the aftermath of the weeks that followed, I read this passage in Ecclesiastes 7:14 and it brought me such comfort to remember that God is in control. "God has made the one as well as the other." There is nothing that surprises the Lord and that He is not capable of bringing good from. God, in His Sovereignty, is able to "work all things together for the good of those who love Him and have been called according to His purpose" (Romans 8:28). 

God is Creator and Sustainer of the world and absolutely Sovereign. However, He is also the God of ALL comfort and the Father of MERCIES. "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 will be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God." 2 Corinthians 1:3-4. 

May we commit to praying for the families struck by this horrible tragedy and may we proclaim the Good News of the Gospel to a broken and hurting world.