In the gospel of John Jesus makes a statement. He is about to go to the cross for the sins of the world but He takes time with His closest friends to tell them He will make sure they are taken care of. John 14:18, in the King James bible says, I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you. The American standard version, the translator, uses a different word for comfortless, desolate. And when you look at the New King James, The Message and the New Living Translation Bibles they phrase it this way, I will not leave you orphans.
Here is a perfect illustration of how we can feel sometimes. Desolate, without any comfort at all, a child wandering in this world without a father or mother to love or take care of them. Wanting everything but receiving nothing. But Jesus promises He will not leave us like that. John 14:16 the Message tells us Jesus was going to leave with us a special, special friend. An Advocate is what He is called in other translations, someone who will lead us into all truth, someone who will be able to help us in our journey through the life God has planned for us while we live on this place called Earth. He gives us a defender, counselor, someone who will love and take care of us, never to abandon any of us, yet be with each of us. His name is The Holy Spirit.
Right now I am sitting here typing these words because I can't sleep thinking about different people I love very much. One, whom I want to see serve God with all of her heart, is going through a hard time. A time when it is very hard to see God at all working in her life because of all the trials going on in her life. A single mom taking care of a precious little boy and her mother who has been battling cancer for over two years. Financial and job stress constantly pulling her in pieces and never seeming to have any peace.
Another friend, who I have a great love and admiration for, is going through the extreme battle of and for his life fighting cancer and the radiation burns the doctors used to destroy the cancer cells, burning up the precious tissues of skin on his neck, chest and inside of his throat and esophagus. He is tough and brave but you still see the pain and suffering he is going through and the care and concern he has for his wife and little baby grandson they are raising.
A grandmother living with her daughters family and having to watch the enemy try and tear them apart knowing she is the one who has to pray everything together and fight the battle on her knees. Wiping tears from eyes bloodshot from care and concern for those she loves and fights for day and night no matter what.
Still another young man is lying in a hospital bed waiting for doctors to decide whether they are going to operate on his back so he can function with less pain and his arm would quit going numb. Not being able to work or take care of his baby girl and going through a hard time with the babies momma as she is pregnant with another child.
Each one of these individuals is a child of God. Problems, Yes! Pains, Yes! Heartache, Yes! Comfortless, No! I know the same Holy Spirit is there with everyone of them and the millions of other believers throughout the world, all going through one trial or another. People in Kurdistan, Egypt, Ethiopia, North Korea and Vietnam. Places on earth we don't even know the name of, yet Gods Spirit knows the name of everyone of them and not only that, He knows the number of hairs on their head. Christ promised He would never leave us nor forsake us. The writer of Hebrews 13:5 tells us, God will never leave us nor abandon us and verse 8 says Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever. Also in Isaiah 41:10 God says this, “ Don't be afraid, for I am with you. Don't be discouraged, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will hold you up with My victorious right hand.” Gods right hand man is the Holy Spirit and when we can't pray, He can! When we can't walk he carries us. He is the one who makes the way and lights it up for us in the wilderness times of our lives. It may be dim at first but if you keep looking it will get brighter. I thank God for His Comforter, His Spirit, our Friend who is here for us no matter what.
I may not be able to sleep for care for the people I love but I know, no matter what happens God in His infinite mercy is at their side helping them and encouraging them through their situation. David instructed us wisely in Psalm 37:4-7 , taken from the Message Bible, (4) Keep company with GOD, get in on the best. (5) Open up before GOD, keep nothing back; he'll do whatever needs to be done: (6) He'll validate your life in the clear light of day and stamp you with approval at high noon. (7) Quiet down before GOD, be prayerful before him. These words of advice ring just as true today as when David wrote them down through the inspiration of Gods right hand man, the Holy Spirit. We need to put them to work in our lives. Open up and pour it out to Him then sit quietly and wait on God. He is the one who clears everything up. He is the one who promises us to be there all of the time. Tiny Tim might have said “God bless us everyone” and it may have been written in a book about the changing of a wicked life of a man but Tiny Tim was right. What we see today may be changed in a moment, in the blinking of an eye to what God wants to accomplish in us. Painful now, yes, very painful. Yet in the end He alone is the author of the book of life and if your name is written in that book as a part of Gods infinite plan then let Him write it and as my friend with cancer says “enjoy the ride”. Just let God drive.
To everything there is a beginning but there is also an end. Remember God states to all of us in Revelation 22:18-19 I give fair warning to all who hear the words of the prophecy of this book: If you add to the words of this prophecy, God will add to your life the disasters written in this book; if you subtract from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will subtract your part from the Tree of Life and the Holy City that are written in this book. This goes for the individual too. We need to quit trying to add our ways and our opinions to what we think God should or shouldn't do. We can not think we can control our God but rather we need to relinquish all control to Him. This is where the peace of God begins to surpass all of our understanding. Psalm 37:34 in the Message tells us to wait passionately for GOD, don't leave the path. He'll give you your place in the sun while you watch the wicked lose it. We need that passion in our lives and to maintain it we need Gods Holy Spirit to have the freedom to work in our lives. It will always work out if it is His word and His will. Just remember through it all you'll never, ever be alone, abandoned or comfortless. Jesus loves you this I know. For the Bible tells me so.
