In this short series, I’ve talked about pain and loneliness.
I want to end it with an explanation of the title, Conduits of Comfort and how to overcome
not only pain and loneliness, but everything that sends us to a bad place and
causes us to take our focus off the most important entities in our lives; our
Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ and the Father of us all, the Almighty God.
According to Merriman-Webster, a conduit is defined as: 1) a
pipe or tube through which something (such as water or wire) passes; and 2)
someone or something that is used as a way of sending something (such as
information or money) from one place or person to another.
Let’s be enlightened by the second definition; for that
someone is Christ and that something is His Word, the Bible. The information
being transmitted is hope. We have hope in Christ through the Word for
overcoming every –and I mean every – obstacle in our lives! No matter how much
pain we have been in or are in, there is no comfort like that found in Jesus Christ.
No matter how lonely we are, there is no friend on whom we can depend on to be
with us like Jesus Christ. Don’t you just love saying that name! Jesus - “Jehovah
is salvation” “the healer” “the Soter or Iesous” (meaning savior of his people)”
and Christ – “Christos or the anointed” “Excellent”
“Messiah or anointed of God”. Just the meaning of His name should give us
immeasurable comfort! I love Jesus with every fiber of my being! When I think
about the pain that has been inflicted on me, when I think of the pain I go
through daily just by living in this world, I counter the pain with beautiful,
wonderful, tearfully happy thoughts of my Savior. Have you been so happy until
you can’t do anything but cry “thank you Lord!” Well that is just what we need
to do when that pain hits us; thank Him! Thank him that we can go through it
that we’re not so hard until we don’t believe He is going to help us get
through everything! When I become lonely and feel like crawling in a dark
corner, I counter the loneliness with thoughts of my Lord, Jesus. I know that
the loneliness will only be for a season and when the season has come to an
end, I emerge stronger, more ready to do His work!
Jesus and His Word are our conduits of comfort. See for
yourself; know that He loves us and gives us strength to face the pain, to face
the loneliness, to face to the ugliness of a selfish, cruel world. Remember
that the Lord is good and kind, our ever-present protector and provider of
comfort in times of need: Deuteronomy 31:8 The LORD himself goes before you and will be
with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be
discouraged. Joshua
1:9 Have I not
commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be
discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go. Psalm
119:76 May your
unfailing love be my comfort, according to your promise to your servant. John
14:27 Peace I leave
with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not
let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid. Romans
15:13 May the God of
hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may
overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. 2
Corinthians 1:3-4 Praise
be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and
the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can
comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.
Finally, the 23rd
Psalm says it better than I ever could: 1 The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not be in want. 2 He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet
waters, 3 he restores my soul. He guides me in paths of righteousness
for his name's sake. 4 Even though I walk
through the valley of the shadow of death, I will
fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and
your staff, they comfort me. 5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with
oil; my cup overflows. 6 Surely
goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I
will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.
As I complete this post, there are
tears in my eyes because I know that as this day goes on I may experience both
bouts of pain and loneliness. But the tears are not for that, they are for the knowledge
that I am going to make it through because I know the Lord! I know Him! He is
my everlasting conduit of comfort!
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