The God Of All Comfort by Helen Dowd

The God Of All Comfort
by Helen Dowd

"Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort."

II Corinthians 1:3

As I opened my eyes this morning and crawled out of bed, my heart felt heavy. As consciousness fully set in, I realized why. Today is a National (yes, even world-wide) day of mourning. The reality of the terrible tragedy, which happened on Tuesday, is overwhelming. It is shocking, sad, and despicable. I went about my daily routine, but many times I would feel tears forming inside my eyelids. I felt guilty to be carrying on my life as usual. With constant prayer in my heart for the victims, for New York, for the United States of America, for Canada, for the United Kingdom, for Afghanistan, for Israel, and for all the other places in the world, I feel like asking, as a little girl did, "Could God have stopped this?"

All the verses from my childhood come back to me, about God’s protection, His care, His love, His omnipotence, but Satan wants me to have that question in my mind: Could God have stopped this? And another question pops into my mind: Could God have stopped Christ’s crucifixion?

These tragic events are "signs of the times." The end times are looming before us, and our natural tendency is to panic, but God tells us to look up, and to keep looking up. I wish the words that I have in my heart could spill automatically on to the paper, but words fail me to express the sorrow in my heart.

All we can do right now is take comfort in the Scriptures: Today’s “Daily Light” has some very good verses. Here are a few.

Isaiah 51:12 "I, even I, am he that comforteth you."

II Corinthians 1, 3, 4. "(He) comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God".

I Peter 5:7 "Casting all your care upon him, for he careth for you..."

Psalm 86:15 "Thou, O Lord, art a God full of compassion, and gracious, longsuffering, and plenteous in mercy and truth"

Revelation 21:4 "God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away."

Let us just remember one important thing: God is still on the throne. God is still in control. God holds the universe in His hands. Let us trust Him.

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