They Shall Be Comforted

Matthew 5:4 teaches us that the comfort of God is so wonderful that anything that causes us to mourn opens the door for the amazing blessing of comfort. If we believe that God’s grace and sovereignty are greater than any loss or disappointment, we can experience joy in the midst of sorrow.

I’ve known people who have endured tremendous tragedy yet remained peaceful, loving, and kind. Others have asked them, “How can you possibly go through what you have gone through and have such a great attitude?” One woman I know lost four of her children in a drowning accident, yet she was not angry or bitter, and she never lost her faith in God. She actually leaned into God even harder. God’s grace and comfort were poured out on her, and it was evident that the comfort she felt was supernatural.

God desires to help us in all our troubles, and the blessing of His comfort is one way He does this. God can give us the peace that passes understanding in the midst of our most painful situations (Philippians 4:7).

I realize it can be difficult to think of ourselves as “blessed” when we are going through a tough time. When we’re hurting, it’s easy to fall into self-pity. But self-pity does not comfort us; it makes us increasingly miserable. If we want God’s comfort, we need to sacrifice feeling sorry for ourselves. I have finally learned that I would rather have God’s comfort than my own self-pity. We can be pitiful or powerful, but we cannot be both. Self-pity is rooted in fear—we fear we will never get back what we have lost or forever feel the pain we currently feel. If we refuse to be comforted, we may always feel the pain, but we do not have to. It is our choice.

As I write this, I have a mess of my own. My back was injured, and I have great difficulty getting in and out of chairs. When I want to get up, I have to call my husband Dave to help me. I am putting ice on my back and walking around the house for five minutes every 30 minutes as instructed by my chiropractor.

“What-if” scenarios keep playing in my mind, and I must chase them off while still waiting on God to show me what course of action to take. I would prefer to have a miraculous healing, but God may not give me the easy way. I don’t know all the answers yet, but I do know that feeling sorry for myself or trying hard to understand why this happened to me right now won’t do any good. I need to wait patiently on God while trusting Him, and I need to continue helping others as much as I can. Thankfully, I have experience with God’s comfort. I know that He is with me, He will strengthen me, and He can ultimately work this situation out for my good. In fact, as I look back over my life, the blessing of God’s comfort is so great that it’s almost worth going through difficulties.

I don’t know exactly what you may be dealing with today, but God knows, and He longs to comfort you right now. In fact, the Bible says that He has sent the Holy Spirit, the Comforter, to live inside of you (John 16:7). He is with you at every moment of every day, and you can turn to Him with anything you need.

It can be as simple as praying: “Holy Spirit, You know what I’m going through, and I ask for Your comfort to get through this situation. Please be with me. Strengthen my body, my mind, my emotions and every part of me. I can’t do this without You.”

Remember, in the tough times, God is right there with you. As you call out to Him, He will sustain you, comfort you…and help you bounce back stronger than you were before.

Adapted from the book The Blessed in the Mess by Joyce Meyer. Copyright 2023 by Joyce Meyer. Published by Hachette Book Group, Inc. All rights reserved.