God of Comfort

³ Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, ⁴ who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. ⁵ For as we share abundantly in Christ's sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too. ⁶ If we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; and if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which you experience when you patiently endure the same sufferings that we suffer. ⁷ Our hope for you is unshaken, for we know that as you share in our sufferings, you will also share in our comfort.

⁸ For we do not want you to be unaware, brothers, of the affliction we experienced in Asia. For we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself. ⁹ Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead. ¹⁰ He delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. On him we have set our hope that he will deliver us again.¹¹ You also must help us by prayer, so that many will give thanks on our behalf for the blessing granted us through the prayers of many.

2 Corinthians 1:3-11

Do you ever get that feeling when you feel disgusting, like a monster? When you've indulged in sin, you turned away from God and you've been engulfed by guilt? That feeling, that you're retched, scarred, and just unworthy? That feeling comes up a lot. When we sin, we've failed against God, and like Adam and Eve, we tend to run away after realizing how filthy we are, we try to hide from God.

I felt like that today.

But then when i started to read the devo, this was the scripture reading for the day, and it calmed my heart. God will comfort us in everything, in times of trial, suffering, and pain. And it is for us to be able to spread and spill that comfort into others. I've felt that this week. I've recently made a new friend, or i guess you could say gotten closer to a friend, and i've also felt that i could be more transparent and vulnerable with others lately. Of course i have deeper struggles with whom i share with others, but i've been able to just talk to people about my struggles more. It feels good sometimes, because we're able to help each other out. Sometimes if you take the risk (if you're comfortable) and share with others, you'll never know the response you'll get. For instance, i shared with this friend about university, about a friend who's possibly wasted 7 years of my life (as bad as that sounds), and i was surprised to hear what he had to say, but it was most definitely comforting.

But also reading all this, and reflecting on all this, i was constantly reminded of God's love. Its deeper than the sea, wider than the universe, and its never failing, and everlasting. No matter what you've done to him, run away, stabbed him in the back, fall short of his glory, he still loves you unconditionally. Its amazing to really take that in, and you really will not find anyone else on this earth that can satisfy that, and be that person for you, because its humanly impossible.

God comforts you, share that comfort with others.

verse of the day: Nahum 1:7

7 The Lord is good,
a stronghold in the day of trouble;