Wrap Yourself in the Comforter

Either Wrap Yourself in the Comforter or Do It Alone and Worry – Which One Will it Be?






We Christians have it all. We don’t act like we have it all, but we do! We worry about our bills and we struggle with relationships. People don’t appreciate us and we get sick. We are anxious one day and depressed the next. As soon as we try to fix one area in our lives another breaks down. Sometimes we just can’t win for losing. Scripture tells us that “Man is born to trouble as the sparks fly upward.” Job 5:7 We can attest to that since troubles surely crop up in our lives. But look again because we belong to an amazingly loving and powerful God! And we do have it all even though sometimes it doesn’t seem that way.



I have always been an anxious and fearful person. Maybe that is one of the reasons I love being a child of God so much. When I am insecure and uncomfortable I can wrap myself up in the security and comfort of my heavenly Father. The Holy Spirit is my Comforter – and your Comforter- and if we let Him, He can replace our dark troubled thoughts with His thoughts of joy and strength. We need His daily restoration of our anxious weary souls. He can stop us from falling and cause us to stand on His promises.



You may be dreading something that you have to do. You worry that you won’t do a good job or that you can’t take care of all of the responsibilities placed on your shoulders. And then you call out to the Lord and He answers, --a small voice whispers to your soul, “Fear not for I am with you, be not dismayed for I am your God, I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with the right Hand of my righteousness—“ Isaiah 41:10. You sense that He will get you through the trouble, open doors for you and make a way. Your job is just to follow. It’s not up to you any more: you can relax and let Him guide you along. Such a comfort and such a privilege we Christians have!



Psalms 23 tells us: “the Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want.” We can expect Christ’s shepherding care. We can know that He will keep us from want and protect us and restore our life. That’s a normal for us – has been promised to us – so let’s just claim it. Verse 3 of this Psalm tells us that “He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake.” We can trust Him to guide our lives – they aren’t an accident after all! If we fear death this Psalm comforts us again with: “Yea, 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,” vs. 4 and “I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.” Vs. 6. He will be with us and comfort us when we die and since He has given us eternal life we will “dwell in the house of the Lord forever.”



The Bible tells us over and over again how much God loves and cares for us. Our Father God is the same one described in the parable of the Prodigal Son, the waiting longing Father who scans the horizon for his wayward child. And when the Father sees His child in the far distance He rushes out to meet her and kisses her and celebrates her homecoming with a lavish party. Let’s not forget that this is a picture of our Father and His relationship with us too.



Let’s read the Bible every day and build ourselves up in God’s love. .Scripture tells us to “Rejoice in the Lord always and again I say rejoice” Philippians 4:4. Scripture also reminds us that “the joy of the Lord is your strength.” Let’s build up our strength by praising God and enjoying Him. Let’s open our eyes to our lavish spiritual heritage described in the Word and not give any time looking at the lies and optical illusions Satan tries to show us. And let’s let the Holy Spirit lead us and comfort us.



It’s so easy to worry about all of our troubles. Remember when Peter started walking on the water he was looking over at Jesus. But the minute he took his eyes off of Jesus and looked down at the waves he started sinking. Then Jesus put out His hand and pulled Peter back up. If we keep looking to Jesus – letting Him guide us, reading His Word – we can with Jesus, get through our troubles (or walk on top of the waves). But if we take our eye off Jesus and look at our troubles (waves) we will surely sink – just as Peter did!



We have two choices. We can look at all of our problems and worry. Or we can look to the Lord and rest in His love and mercy and guidance. We can focus on the waves or we can look to Jesus. Just two ways to live our lives. Just two choices. Which will it be?