Will God Really Comfort Me?
In one of our womenโs biblical support groups recently, we were discussing the role of faith as it relates to receiving Godโs comfort. The group members and I all confessed that we donโt always walk by faith and believe that God will comfort us in the manner and timing we want. A question emerged: Are we willing to forsake our false comforts to receive by faith what God promises to give? Could Godโs promise to comfort really be true?
At the heart level, these womenโs questions revealed deeper questions about the character of God himself. Itโs a worthy endeavor to pursue questions that press us into what we truly believe about Godโs commitment to be Father, Comforter and Home to us.
False Comfort or God’s Comfort
Have you ever felt the tension between what God says about himself and your daily, lived experience? Have you wondered if the comfort God provides will truly be enough for you in your temptation and pain?
In Psalm 116 we find the psalmist in dire circumstances: being confronted with death and hell itself (v. 3). What words might you use for your circumstancesโdo they feel like death? Or hell? Perhaps youโre losing your marriage, your health, or facing the pain of past sexual abuse. Maybe youโre suffering the loss of a loved one, a child walking away from the faith, or your decades of unmet longings for love and relationship. At Harvest USA, discipleship for sexual strugglers takes shape as we learn to allow the grace of God to train us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions in order to embrace self-controlled, upright, and godly lives (Titus 2:11โ12). Part of that grace of God is undoubtedly his comfort and mercy.
How do we go from being people who regularly pursue sinful ways of escape or reward to those who seek and receive Godโs help when our hearts long for comfort in the pain of this life? Or another way one ministry recipient put it: โDoes Godโs comfort actually work?โ
I Love the Lord
In the opening two verses, we see the psalmist reflecting on what God has already done (past tense) and how it has impacted his present manner of life:
I love the LORD, because he has heard
my voice and my pleas for mercy.
Because he inclined his ear to me,
therefore I will call on him as long as I live. (Ps. 116:1โ2, my emphasis)
Why does the psalmist love the Lord? Because when it really counted, he banked everything on Godโs promise, and God did indeed hear his voice and pleas for mercy. Furthermore, how did the psalmist learn to live as a result of this experience of Godโs help? The Psalmist has come to believe something about Godโs characterโthat God inclines his ear to him.
Have you ever had a safe relationship where someone has inclined their ear toward youโmaybe a parent, friend, pastor, or spouse? You can be certain theyโll listen and care when you bring a concern to them. This is the very heart of God toward all his children! As a result of exercising his muscles of faith by calling out to God in desperation and seeing God provide real help, the psalmist has learned a new way of living his life: calling on God as long as he lives (v. 2).
Make Room for Godโs Help
To whom or to what do you currently call out when you suffer distress and anguish? Has a #1 friend, boyfriend, or girlfriend become your source of salvation from distress? What about escapes like pornography, building a fantasy life, or solo sex? Have these become your help in anguish, boredom, or stress?
Friend, you can bank on God being who he says he will be. He promises to comfort you, and he will. His characterโhis everlasting goodnessโwill never change. When was the last time you risked giving up false comfort, with your only hope being Godโs character and promises? In the Church today, I fear we donโt often see the power of God displayed in our lives partly because we donโt take risks resting on Godโs promises. We have our plans, programs, and safe ways of living, but these come at the expense of seeing how the Lord will provide as we live by faith in real timeโwith our real desires, longings, and expectations.
Has your conception of God and his loving power toward you become miniature and domesticated? Andrew Murray says it this way:
Oh that God would by his grace show you what a God you have, and to what a God you have entrusted yourselfโan omnipotent God, willing with his whole omnipotence to place himself at the disposal of every child of his!
Are we willing to forsake false comforts in order to receive the comfort offered in Christ? The sober reality is this: if weโve never sought God for help and comfort, and when we lay down familiar ways of coping to bank on Godโs promises, we are stepping into a loss of control and a realm of relative unknown. Some call this a โleap of faith.โ Compared to the known euphoria of sin, Godโs comfort can feel like a letdown.
Yet Godโs Word shows that the process of godly sorrow and repentance from our sinful ways of coping leads to salvation without regret (2 Cor. 7:10). Godโs comfort is like goldโprecious and everlastingโcompared to the flimsy shine of dollar store tinsel. The pursuit of God’s promises, by faith, leads to reward (Heb. 11:6). Dear Christian brother or sister, will you, by faith, seek the true comfort God provides? As our Savior promises, โBehold, I am with you always, to the end of the ageโ (Matt. 28:20b).
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Are you a woman seeking freedom from sinful comfort-seeking? Harvest USAโs womenโs ministry wants to serve you! Reach out at [email protected]. This process is confidential.
Caitlin McCaffrey
Director of Women's Ministry
Caitlin McCaffrey is the Director of Womenโs Ministry at Harvest USA. She oversees all direct ministry to women which includes both 1-on-1 discipleship and group ministry. Caitlin writes, teaches and produces content on how the Gospel intersects with issues of sexuality, gender and relationships.
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