³ Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, ⁴ who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.

There’s a lot of ‘comfort’ in these 2 verses. In fact, Paul uses the word 4 times in 1 sentence. I have to confess that I’d always thought of comfort in terms of something that provides us with ease from things that are difficult, uncomfortable or perhaps even painful but I think Paul is actually trying to express something here that’s a bit deeper than that. The Greek word he uses is ‘paraklesis’ which comes from the root word ‘parakaleo’ which means to draw alongside. The ‘Paraklete’ (aka The Comforter), therefore, is the one who draws alongside. He is a supporter, an encourager, the one who helps or intercedes in difficult times or the one who provides wisdom or guidance when we can’t quite summon it up for ourselves.

In John 14:16-17 Jesus promised His disciples that after He had gone He would send ‘another helper’ (the Paraklete) to be with them (and by definition us) forever. The Paraklete, who we also know as The Holy Spirit, is the one who provides us with that comfort, encouragement, wisdom, strength and/or guidance in all the situations and circumstances we might find ourselves in. He is the one who Jesus promised would be with us forever. He is the very essence of God given to fulfil the promises that Jesus made. He is the one who we can always turn to and always rely upon when life gets a little turbulent. He is the calm in the storm, the anchor in the waves, the stability we all need. And, all we need to do is invite Him to come and be within us.

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Application:

Before you do anything else today, find a quite place and ask God to show you the places where you have strayed from His purposes for you. Ask Him to show you your mistakes and to identify the reasons for any of the difficulties or stresses you’ve experienced in your life. Then pray the prayer below.

Prayer:

Lord Jesus forgive me for the times when I haven’t been true to the plans and purposes You have set out for me. I ask for Your forgiveness for these errors now. I ask that You would send Your Holy Spirit to inhabit my very being that I might know Your comfort, Your wisdom, Your strength and Your presence in all that I do from this point onwards. I ask in Jesus’ name. Amen.

(Now wait for Him to come!)