The Reach of Divine Comfort

“Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; Trust also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.”
John 14:1-3

The day had started out with the rumble of thunder and some rain – nothing really unusual for the mid-west. A text from a dear friend asking for prayer let loose a storm in my heart. I called with no real words to share – we spent some minutes fighting the tears we were sharing across nearly 2000 miles. My heart was breaking and my arms were simply just not long enough to reach her for a hug. We both knew, though that there was a divine comfort reaching across those miles and hugging both of us in a divine embrace.

This week’s passage from John’s Gospel is really about the reach of divine comfort. Jesus is trying to prepare his friends for what is about to happen. He tells them not to let their hearts be troubled, that no matter what they witness over the next few days, no matter how huge the storms in their hearts feel – He would be able to reach them, to give them peace, comfort and an amazing future in eternity.

In the Old Testament God told Moses and Joshua to be strong and courageous because He would never leave them. Jesus is telling his friends the same thing in not so many words, they would understand eventually. It is hard in the midst of the pain and loss this world often throws at us to understand the power of His divine comfort, but we can feel it when we need to – it will pull us into a hug that will get us through the moments, or the storm or whatever we are facing.

So this week no matter what you are facing – let not you hearts be troubled, the reach of His divine comfort will reach all the way to where you are.

A Prayer
Father, you see us and you know full well how this world can beat us up. You know how troubled our hearts can become and You encourage us to trust You – to trust that your Divine comfort will reach us. Thank you for the divine comfort that reaches us where we are and wraps us up in a hug that can still our troubled hearts if only for a moment. In the name of Jesus, our friend and comfort in times of trouble – Amen.