In Touch Ministries

Dr. Charles Stanley: You say, "But God, if You knew how I was suffering." He knows. You say, "But Lord, if You knew the intensity of my hurt." He knows exactly because, you see, He measures it all and weighs it all perfectly. My friend, God's not going to come short with you. You say, "But if God only knew." He does know. Nobody else in the world may know what you suffer. Nobody else in the world may know what you have to face. God knows. And because He knows, He's always there as the God of all comfort and the God of all encouragement.

Guest (Male): Are you anxious today? Worried? Afraid? Maybe you're unhappy or sad. No matter what you face, Jesus has the reassurance you need. Stay with us now for In Touch, the teaching ministry of Dr. Charles Stanley. You'll be pointed to God's word to find encouragement for the troubled heart.

Dr. Charles Stanley: If someone should ask you to describe God in single words—I mean, just a whole list of words—what would be the first few words you would mention? Would you mention God is just? God is love? God is holy? God is omnipotent? God is merciful? God is omniscient? God is omnipresent? What words would you use to describe God as you know Him?

I wonder in that list of who God is from your perspective, I wonder how far down the list you would go before you described God as my Encourager. Do you ever think about God being an Encourager? In fact, of the two words, "judge" or "encourager," which of those two words are most familiar to you when you think about God?

Do you see God as one who is a loving Encourager who's on your side, who wants to help you, who's standing by your side to encourage you and to lift you? Or do you see Him primarily as a judge, one who condemns sin, one that makes you feel bad even when you've done your best, one who gives you sort of guilt feelings just because you know He's there watching you? What is your concept of God? Because, you see, the way you see God is the way you're going to relate yourself to Him.

The way you relate yourself to God is going to influence the way you relate yourself to other people and the way you see yourself. It's interesting that the Apostle Paul had many descriptions of God. One of those, which is one of the most encouraging ones, is found in 2 Corinthians chapter one. I want us to look at this passage because he describes God in this beginning passage in a way that I think all of us need to personally and intimately view God.

Beginning in verse three and reading through verse 11 of 2 Corinthians chapter one, he says, "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and the God of all comfort." Listen, "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort." Now, that word comfort is the same word for Encourager, Comforter, Helper—our parakletos.

"Who comforts us in all our affliction so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. For just as the sufferings of Christ are ours in abundance, so also our comfort is abundant through Christ. But if we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; or if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which is effective in the patient enduring of the same sufferings which we also suffer."

"And our hope for you is firmly grounded, knowing that as you are sharers of our sufferings, so also you are sharers of our comfort." Then he relates something to them. He says, "For we do not want you to be unaware, brethren, of our affliction which came to us in Asia, that we were burdened excessively, beyond our strength, so that we despaired even of life; indeed, we had the sentence of death within ourselves in order that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God who raises the dead; who delivered us from so great a peril of death, and will deliver us, He on whom we have set our hope. And He will yet deliver us, you also joining in helping us through your prayers, that thanks may be given by many persons on our behalf for the favor bestowed upon us through the prayers of many."

In this passage, Paul sets the tone of this whole book, and that is strength through weakness. What he simply says here in this third verse as he ascribes to God the Father the ascription, or the attribute, of the God of all comfort. So for today, what I would like to talk about in the next few moments is encouragement for the troubled heart. Where do you and I turn when our heart is troubled?

Paul, in this very beginning passage, I believe gives us a word of encouragement that I want you to notice. I want you to go back to verse eight, if you will, because what he does is he couches this in an incident, or maybe even a series of incidents, that happened to him in Asia of which they were at least partially familiar because he doesn't go into any detail at all when he mentions it here.

But notice what he says, and I want you to notice the words that he uses. He says in verse eight, "For we do not want you to be unaware, brethren, of our affliction." Now, the word "affliction" here, which he uses back over here in verse four when he says, "who comforts us in all our affliction," it is a word which means pressure. But it means more than pressure. He says affliction, crushing pressure, harassing, oppressive pressure.

That is, we're not talking about a little toothache, earache, or a little sore throat or bad cold. We're talking about going through difficult, trying times—dark, deep, strenuous valleys where the anxiety level is high and where fear begins to grip us and where darkness seems to prevail and the intensity of the pain is indescribable and the sorrow is overwhelming. The truth is, we don't know what to do next.

All of us are going to face times when Satan tempts us to be discouraged. Now, why? Because the devil knows one of the choicest tools in his toolbox to work on a believer is discouragement. He knows that when you're discouraged, you won't grow very much spiritually. When you're discouraged, there's not going to be much productivity in your life. When you're discouraged, you'll be a very poor servant of God.

You'll have a very difficult time worshipping God when you're down in the dumps. That is, you're negative in your thinking, you feel overwhelmed, and the intensity of the pain of your circumstance at that moment. That is not to belittle the pain and the suffering and the sorrow that many people live in continuously. But it's interesting that Paul says our God is a God of all comfort. He's the source of all comfort and encouragement.

He's the source of it. And that is, the encouragement that He gives is adequate encouragement. So he said to them, "These afflictions are the times, periods, moments, seasons of pressure—intense, harassing, overwhelming pressure." That is, the situation became so intense, things were so fragile, Paul is simply saying, "I knew in those moments life was about over."

The word he uses here when he says "despaired even of life" is a word that implies absolute and total unavoidability of any route of escape whatsoever. This was it; no way out. He felt absolutely trapped, and life was about to do him in. Have you ever felt that way? It is amazing how many people say, "Pastor, I just feel..." and they hesitate and they finally say, "I feel trapped."

Trapped in my financial situation, trapped in this relationship. I feel stuck. I'm not moving. I can't get anywhere. Things are just not going my way, and I'm feeling the intensity of the circumstances in which I live. I just feel trapped where I am. Have you ever felt that way? My friend, to feel stuck, to feel trapped, to feel imprisoned in a given circumstance is a very tormenting situation.

Paul, all through his spiritual life, suffered one sense of persecution after the other—one trial, one hardship, one heartache. So someone says, "Well, what was Paul referring to here?" You remember one occasion he went through such a difficult time he says he fought with wild beasts. A second time, you recall, he was beaten 39 times with rods. He was in the midst of a riot.

If you go through the life of the Apostle Paul, here's a man who suffered just about every form of torment and suffering that a man could possibly endure. But he says on this occasion he really thought it was all over. He says, "We despaired even unto life itself." Then if you'll notice in verse nine, "Indeed, we had the sentence of death within ourselves." That is, we were convinced this was it.

"In order that we should not trust in ourselves, but trust in God who raises the dead." He could write this now with great confidence because for all practical purposes, Paul is saying at that moment it was as if I were dead and God raised us right out of it. "Who delivered us from so great a peril of death, and will deliver us, He on whom we have set our hope, and He will yet deliver us."

It is amazing the number of people who are contemplating suicide. Some of them contemplate it in one form or one fashion; some of them contemplate it in the other. But all of them have come to the conclusion that life has nothing else to offer, that for all practical purposes their life is over. They see no hope, and so they've come to the conclusion that they have despaired even unto life. There is no escape from their circumstances, so why not end it all?

I want to tell you a reason not to end it all. Because there is someone, my friend, who not once in a while but every single time is adequate to encourage you and to help you through that circumstance no matter what it is. There are intense situations and circumstances of pressure; even the believer sometimes may be tempted even to take his or her life.

Now, Paul is beginning this book the way he's going to carry it all the way through—one passage after the other referring to trials and heartaches and pressures. Yet in these verses three through seven, 10 times he mentions the word "comfort" or "comforter." Now, notice in verse three he speaks of God as the God of all comfort. That word is the same word in verse four and all the way through verse seven.

It is the root word of parakletos, which is the same word we get the word Holy Spirit. In the King James Version, He's called the Comforter. In the New American Standard version, He's called the Helper. But the word is Encourager, Helper, Comforter—any one of which. But primarily what he's simply saying is this: that God is the God of all encouragement, because that's what comfort is.

It is encouragement. It lifts our spirit, lifts our attitude, changes our focus, and everybody needs someone as their Encourager. So I want you to notice two things primarily in this passage. First of all, the first source of our Encourager is the fact that God, by His very nature, is an Encourager. That is, someone who stands by our side to lift our spirit, to get our attitude positive, to help us to see our way clear, and to give us hope.

Everybody needs an Encourager in their life. I wonder, could you name anybody today? Just one person that when you think about getting discouraged or you think when the bottom drops out, there's always one person you have you can call and say, "Hey, I want to tell you things aren't going too well. Things are just a little tough right now. I'm going through a very difficult time. I'm hurting on the inside. I'm overwhelmed with my situation." Do you have anybody, my friend, that you can call upon to be your Encourager?

Well, some of you could think of someone, but some of you cannot. So I want to introduce you to someone today who's a true, genuine Encourager. The Bible says He's your Heavenly Father. Paul ascribed to Him the attribute of the Comforter, the Encourager. Now, He knew those apostles were going to become discouraged. What did they do? Peter said, "I'm going fishing." Forget the whole thing.

He was absolutely distressed that he had denied the Lord Jesus Christ there by the fire—distressed that he couldn't figure it all out. You talk about gloomy, dark moments when they knew that Jesus Christ had died on the cross and they placed Him in a grave. These were stressful times for these men. That's why Jesus said one of the last things—that is, the night before He was crucified—He said, "I'm going to send you somebody. He's going to encourage your heart."

"He's going to stand by your side. He'll be there to lift you up and show you the way and remind you of those things that you need to be reminded of." So every single one of us has the blessed assurance of the indwelling presence of the same Comforter, Helper, Encourager. The very same one hasn't changed one iota in all these 2,000 years.

The same one who indwelt the Apostle Peter, indwelt the Apostle Paul, is now indwelling you and me. Why? Because God knows that we, too, will walk through valleys of intense pain, intense heartache, intense sorrow—overwhelmed, burdened down, shackled, bruised, broken with intense pressure that is beyond our human capacity to deal with. He knows that.

So the Bible says He sends the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit comes to indwell us in order to see us through these difficult times of our life. So you see, He's not left you here to get along the best you can. God has left you here to get along with Him in all of His power and all of His encouragement. What is your tendency when things don't go right? What is your tendency when you have done the very best you know how and things aren't working out?

Are you asking yourself the question, "Where is this God of mine?" That's not the right question. Here's the right question: "Where am I in my circumstances? Where am I in my pain? Where am I in my discouragement?" I can tell you exactly where God is. God is, period. Everything and everybody is in the presence of God. We never have to ask, "Where are You, God? Why don't You come down here and get involved in my life?"

Friend, you are living in the presence of God. He is involved in your life. That's why He sent the Holy Spirit, so that everything you're involved in, He's already involved in. I'll tell you how involved He is. When you are crying out to God, "God, why don't You help me? Why do You wait so long? Why are You so late? Why don't You change these circumstances?" Did you know, my friend, not only is God involved, but He's already put a limitation on all of your circumstances?

The things that you're crying out for God and wondering if He knows where you are—not only does He know, but He's put a limitation on how much suffering you're going to endure, how much trial you're going to have to go through, how dark the valley is going to get, how long the valley is going to be, how intense the pain is. You say, "But God, if You knew how I was suffering." He knows.

You say, "But Lord, if You knew the intensity of my hurt." He knows exactly because you see, He measures it all and weighs it all perfectly. My friend, God's not going to come short with you. You say, "But if God only knew." He does know. Nobody else in the world may know what you suffer. Nobody else in the world may know what you have to face. God knows.

And because He knows, He's always there as the God of all comfort and the God of all encouragement. So Paul is introducing these Corinthian Christians to the fact that God is, by name and by nature, the God of all comfort and the God of all encouragement. It's easy to have a pity party when things aren't going your way, and then we cry out to God, hoping—listen, crying out to God is right.

Who are those men in the Bible who give us the most comfort? Are they not the Apostle Paul and King David? Why is it that those two give us the most comfort in times of difficulty? Because those two men walked through the deepest, darkest valleys of hurt and pain and suffering and failure and intensity of pressure like few people in all the Word of God, if anybody could match them.

Why do we turn to them? Because you and I want to go to somebody—we want to hear something from somebody—who's been in the valley where we are, who understands the thickness of the darkness, the intensity of the pain, and that sudden moment of gripping, fearful hopelessness that nothing's ever going to change. That's why we turn to David when he cries out, "Oh my God, why is my soul so overwhelmed and so burdened and my spirit so cast down?"

We can identify with that. And the Apostle Paul talking about despairing even to life—"This is it. Can't last beyond this. Can't take any more than this." Yet he says, "I understood by experience that God raises men even from the dead." My friend, I wonder today if, deep in your heart, in your emotions, you've already died.

I wonder if in your circumstance, where you're sitting or listening today—I wonder if in your emotions you've already died. You've already said, "It's too late. It's all over. It won't work. Nobody cares. Nobody understands. Why should I keep going on when nobody cares?" My friend, not just somebody, but God Himself tenderly cares about where you are.

Guest (Male): You're listening to In Touch, the teaching ministry of Dr. Charles Stanley. If you're a believer facing a situation that feels unbearable, take comfort in your unbreakable relationship with Jesus Christ. He displayed His everlasting love by dying for you.

For more on finding spiritual strength, log on to intouch.org to find many resources that point you to a thriving relationship with the Savior. Go back over what you just heard by following the link to today on radio. And look for the bookstore page where you can order a copy of Dr. Stanley's complete message, "Encouragement for the Troubled Heart." Our web address again is intouch.org. You can also call or text to 1-800-IN-TOUCH. If you prefer, you can write to us at In Touch, Post Office Box 7900, Atlanta, Georgia, 30357.

Do you feel like you've done something that even God can't forgive? See how your sin compares to His grace just ahead in today's Moment with Charles Stanley.

Dr. Charles Stanley: Here's what he says: "No temptation has taken you but such as is common to men." All of us have been there. But here's what he says: "God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted above you are able to bear." But he says, "Listen, He'll make us able to go through these temptations. He'll provide a way of escape that we may be able to—what—endure it."

But if we don't, here's what John said: "If we confess our sin, He is faithful and just to forgive us and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." So what does he mean by faithful and just? Faithful means He's faithful to His promise that He will forgive us. Just means He has the right to forgive you and me of our sinfulness and still remain a faithful God. Why? Because He sees that Jesus died for our sins.

This is why the Bible doesn't say "to my little adults," but "it's always my little children." We're growing up in the Christian life. Law says, "If you do not do this, this is the penalty." Grace says, "You should not do that. This is My love for you. If you do, I'm going to forgive you, but I want you to keep growing."

Guest (Male): Learn more about the perfect forgiveness God offers you at intouch.org. How are you encouraged by today's message? Please let us know. On the next edition of In Touch, God promises to sustain believers through difficult times. Hear more biblical encouragement for the troubled heart when you return to In Touch, the teaching ministry of Dr. Charles Stanley. This program is a presentation of In Touch Ministries, Atlanta, Georgia, and remains on this station through the grace of God and your faithful prayers and gifts.