God certainly offers us comfort whenever we are sad or experiencing difficult situations. However, it may well depend upon timing and how we define comfort.
There are many occasions in the Bible where particular characters experienced severe hardship without apparent immediate consolation or comfort. Job lost his children, his servants, his health, his livestock, and all of his worldly possessions. While he underwent this loss, he suffered the ridicule and accusations of his peers. Even his wife told him “to curse God and die.” (Job 2:9). Joseph was sold into slavery due to the jealousy of his own brothers. He was accused of rape by his employer’s wife and sent to a presumed life-time of prison and misery. He lost his family, freedom, and reputation.
Most importantly, consider Jesus. There are many stories in the New Testament that describe the experiences of Jesus:
* Jesus went into the desert to fast and pray in anticipation of commencing His mission. Forty days of fasting with no food and little water would cause pain and discomfort for any individual. In addition to the physical rigors of this fast, Jesus was attacked spiritually through the temptations of the devil. Despite His physical weakness, Jesus stood strong in His faith and successfully withstood these temptations.
* It is an incredible blessing that the Bible includes the story of the Passion of Jesus. It serves as an example that we, too, may passionately ask God for help should we experience sorrow or suffering. It removes any stigma of acknowledging our pain and confusion. If Jesus could express His hope that the will of God be changed, how much joy can we take from knowing we can follow in the example of our own Savior? Yet, it does exemplify the extreme suffering of Jesus. Fear and dread of circumstances can cause great affliction and sorrow. The Father did send an angel to Jesus. However, the angel was sent not to comfort Jesus, but to offer Him the cup of agony and pain.
* How much more pain and sadness can be experienced than that of Jesus on the cross when he said, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matt 27:46)? Here, the one without sin and blemish is masked by the sin and blemish of each of us. The Father has turned His back on His own Son. He cannot recognize Him for the sin that has been placed upon Jesus’ shoulders. The Father cannot accept sin into the Kingdom. Never has anyone been as alone as Jesus: bearing the sin of all as well as utter disregard by His Father.
Yet, all of these stories have one thing in common.
Despite outer appearances,each character retained his faith and found spiritual comfort and nurturance from that faith. God did console Job and reward him for his faith. He raised more children, hired more servants, and saw his material wealth multiply greatly. Joseph was recompensed for his faith and hope in God. He served as the advisor to the Pharaoh and ultimately saved his family as well as many of his own kinsmen from the impact of a horrendous drought. Jesus did receive the comfort and consolations of God. The Angels ministered to him in the desert. He fulfilled the will of God and, as a result, sits at the right hand of the Father. He rose from the dead and, through His redemptive act, has opened wide the gates of Heaven to all who believe and place their trust in Him.
If comfort is accorded the secular definition of a “relief in affliction, consolation, solace,… a state of ease and satisfaction, of bodily wants, with freedom from pain and anxiety…”, then one might not be said to experience it at the actual time of suffering. Yet, if it is defined as hope, then it exists even prior to our acknowledged need. It is this hope and faith which is evident in the experiences of Job, Joseph and Jesus and which assures us of God’s presence and caring even while we endure severe hardship. It is faith that assures us of God’s promise and sustains us to persevere.
No one expresses this concept better than David through the Psalms. We are all familiar with the 23rd Psalm. Consider these verses and reflect on how they assure us of God’s presence and comfort even when and while we confront evil and pain around us:
Even when I walk through a dark valley,
I fear no harm for you are at my side;
your rod and staff give me courage. (Ps 23:4)
So long as we keep our faith and trust in the Lord, we will indeed receive the spiritual comfort and assurance of the Lord (Ps 121).
Why does God seem to dally in providing comfort? Jesus has also provided that answer. God seeks persistence in prayer. Jesus expressed this desire through many of His parables. Consider, just for example, the man begging bread from his neighbor in the middle of the night (Lk 11:5-8) or the woman begging the unjust judge for relief (Lk 18:1-8). If we received immediate relief, there would be no need for such persistence and we might not even recognize the answer as having come from God. Neither would we be given the opportunity to offer God the gift of our faith and hope in His providence and love.
Secular experiences of comfort may not come when we want it and when we most feel its need. In all cases, though, where we retain faith and hope in the goodness and love of God, as did Job, as did Joseph, and as did Jesus, comfort will come in the time directed by God. We can exemplify our faith through our persistence in prayer and supplication. Then we, too, may expect to receive the consolations and comfort of God in response to our own acts and expressions of faith.
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