We need comfort and encouragement. In modern English the word comfort has to do exclusively with consolation and sympathy in sorrow and distress, but in the Bible it was more closely connected with its root, the Latin word fortis, which means brave, strong, courageous.

The Holy Spirit is called by Jesus, the Comforter, who would fill us with the Spirit of power, and courage. The Holy Spirit can make us able triumphantly to cope with the challenges of life. To be filled with the Holy Spirit is to be encouraged, and empowered in the midst of our troubles. Jesus sent his Holy Spirit to be with us, to convey to us his presence.

To encourage is to put courage into another. We comfort and encourage one another when we bring our strength alongside another. God has given us the ministry of encouragement in our relationships with one another.

St. Paul exercised this ministry. "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 have received from God. For just as the sufferings of Christ flow over into our lives, so also through Christ our comfort overflows." (2 Cor. 1:3-5 NIV)

"All praise to the God and Father of our Master, Jesus the Messiah. Father of all mercy. God of all healing counsel. He comes alongside us when we go through hard times, and before you know it, he brings us alongside someone else who is going through hard times so that we can be there for that person just as God was there for us." (The Message)

Not all of us are called to be preachers, or evangelists, or writers, but if any of us know Jesus in our lives then God opens for us a ministry of comfort, which simply means the ability to communicate the life of the Holy Spirit to others. If you have experienced the comforting power of the Holy Spirit, you can share it with others. There is always a great need for this ministry of comfort and encouragement. There are broken hearts that hurt all around us. There is discouragement - i.e. that lack of courage - in the lives of so many. People are without Christ and without hope.

A writer to Annie's Mailbox represents those who are disturbed. "I used to have a lot of friends, and then I went through a major depression. I tried not to lean on them too much, but I did need to talk. I was universally abandoned. I was no longer fun. I was too frightened and depressed to go out. I couldn't listen to their problems anymore. I wanted them to listen to mine. So here I am with 350 Facebook friends from high school, college, work and church. Yet none of them calls. I saw these same people through multiple calamities. They will respond if I contact them, but that's it. They are happy to like my Facebook status or comments on a photo, but no one invites me anywhere. When I was at rock bottom I often contemplated suicide. I sought help and got medication and counseling and am better. If anyone sees themselves in this, please check out your roster of friends and show some friendliness. I sure could use some." (Florida Times-Union, 7/30/12)

To bring comfort and encouragement to others requires an identification with their suffering. We must be touched in our own hearts with their need. We must be able to focus on them and to forget ourselves. We must become channels of blessing to them. The Holy Spirit who fills us must be able to flow freely into their lives. This ministry of comfort to another is not something we can do lightly with a mere pat on the shoulder, or the expression of a pious cliché. If we are to be a blessing to someone in need, if we are to come alongside someone to strengthen them, we cannot do it in our own strength. It is not a human talent or ability. It is something the Holy Spirit will do through us. He is the Comforter. We must rely upon him. When we do so we may be amazed at what God can do in their lives. It is not a question about what we can do to help them, it is a question of what God wants to do and will do. The ministry of comfort is the ministry of the Holy Spirit. It does not depend upon human training but upon divine enabling. The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ is the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort.

God also is like a mother of all comfort. "For this is what the LORD says: 'I will extend peace to her like a river, and the wealth of nations like a flooding stream; you will nurse and be carried on her arm and dandled on her knees. As a mother comforts her child, so will I comfort you.'" (Isaiah 66:12,13 NIV)

"I'll pour robust well-being into her like a river, the glory of nations like a river in flood. You'll nurse at her breasts, nestle in her bosom, and be bounced on her knees. As a mother comforts her child, so I'll comfort you." (The Message)

In the midst of our troubles we need to remember that God wants to comfort us as a mother wants to comfort her baby. God wants to put his arms around us to strengthen us and empower us. Corrie Ten Boom famously said about worry: "Don't wrestle, just nestle." We wrestle when we try to solve life's problems on our own, in our own strength. Jacob wrestled with God until his hip was wrenched out of its socket (Genesis 32:22-32). He then received the name Israel, which means that he struggled with God. We can only overcome in that struggle by acknowledging the power of God, and our weakness and need.

What does it mean to nurse at God's breasts, and nestle in God's bosom, and bounce on God's knees? Surely it means being able to surrender to God's arms, to seek sustenance from the milk of his Word ("Like new born babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good." 1 Peter 2:2,3), and be secure and captivated by his presence. It means recognizing that we must be little children if we are to be great in the kingdom of heaven. Jesus called a little child and had him stand among them And he said, "I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven." (Matthew 18:2-4)

"Under his wings I am safely abiding,
tho' the night deepens and tempests are wild;
still I can trust him, I know he will keep me,
he has redeemed me and I am his child.
Under his wings, what a refuge in sorrow.
How the heart yearningly turns to his rest.
Often when earth has no balm for my healing,
there I will find comfort and there I am blest.
Under his wings, O what precious enjoyment.
There will I hide till life's trials are o'er; sheltered, protected, no evil can harm me, resting in Jesus I'm safe evermore."
(William O. Cushing)

God comforts us when we trust in him, and allow ourselves to be held by him. Do you want to be comforted, to be strengthened, to be encouraged? Are you troubled, suffering, anxious, fearful, or depressed? Jesus said, "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest." (Matthew 11:28) Don't wrestle, just nestle.

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