In Touch Ministries

Dr. Charles Stanley: Your own sense of self-image is dragging in the mud, and you don’t feel like anybody cares. And so you sense despair, defeat, depression. Where is this God of mine? Exactly where He promised to be: He is the God of all comfort, and that’s His work.

He said, "I’m coming to comfort those who mourn. I’m coming to comfort those who are hurting." But you see, if I don’t understand He’s that kind of God, no matter how much He tries to comfort me, if I don’t see Him as the God of all comfort, then I’m going to miss it.

Guest (Male): The Bible depicts God as a loving father who knows our every need. In fact, He says in Hebrews chapter 13, verse 5, "I will never desert you, nor will I ever forsake you." And that’s just one of His promises that lights our path during dark times. Stay with us for In Touch, the teaching ministry of Dr. Charles Stanley, for a description of the God of all comfort. Let’s listen in to Dr. Stanley’s message.

Dr. Charles Stanley: God is called by many names, but one of the most comprehensive of all of those names is the one that He identified Himself when He spoke to Moses. Moses said, "Now, what am I going to tell these people when I go back and who am I going to say has sent me?" And God the Father, Jehovah, said, "You tell them the 'I AM' has sent you. I am the Creator. I am the Redeemer. I am the Savior. I am the Lord. I am the Light. I am the Water. I am the Bread. I am the Door. I am the Way. I am the Life. I am, I am, I am. Not I was, not I shall be, but I am." That is God’s great comprehensive title: the Great I AM.

But you know, when I am thinking about sometimes that I need the Lord in different areas of my life, when I’m going through some difficulty or hardship, I sort of like to have a name that sort of identifies with what I’m facing. For example, let’s say that you and I are hurting about something. Well, there is a title given by God for Himself in the Scriptures that best suits me, I think, when I’m really hurting.

Which brings me to the title of this message and brings me to the theme of it. It’s what I want to talk about. It’s a title given by God about Himself through the Apostle Paul that all of us who hurt once in a while, we need to hear Him, and that is "the God of all comfort." So I want you to turn, if you will, to Second Corinthians chapter one. And let’s look, if you will, in verse three and read these first 11 verses together, remembering now that Paul was a man who knew all about hardship, heartaches, trials.

And if you read the whole book of Second Corinthians, you will define very clearly: In the fourth chapter, he’s talking about our afflictions, perplexed, despairing, persecuted, struck down. Then if you go on over to chapter 11, he’s talking about all of these things he’d been through: imprisoned, beaten, and all the rest. In chapter 12, he’s talking about discovering that in his weakness, God demonstrates His greatest strength.

And so he begins this epistle by saying, verse three: "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we will 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. 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." Paul says, "I thought this was it."

"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."

Paul says God is the God of all comfort. And what I want us to see in this passage is exactly what he’s saying. And that is that our God is named the God of all comfort. Now, that says several things to us about God, and one of the first things it does, it reveals to us the very nature of God. Because now read that passage. Here is what I know for sure.

When he says that our God is the Father of mercies and the God of all comfort, I know that no matter what I have to go through, what my circumstances may be, how deep the valley, how dark the trials, how strong the persecution, how difficult the times—this I know: that my Father of mercies is a God of all comfort. That means He cares for me right in the midst of my hardship and my heartache and my trial. That’s who our God is.

He is a God of all comfort, the Father of all mercies as he says in this passage, and therefore He understands what I’m feeling. And He’s feeling what I’m feeling, and He knows about it, and He is with me in it: the God of all comfort. Now, what is a comforter? A comforter is one who stands by our side to encourage us. That is, a comforter aids us, helps us, encourages us, relieves us, supports us, cheers us on.

And what he’s saying in this passage is this: is that God is one who walks with us, who lives on the inside of us, who aids us, supports us, and when we think, "God, I can’t handle any more; God, I can’t stand it any more," it is God the Father who is standing by our side and saying to us, "Yes, you can. Keep moving. Keep going. Yes, you can. You will make it. Don’t give up. Don’t quit. Don’t turn back. You will make it because I’m going to be with you every step of the way."

That is the God of all comfort. Now, you see, if you don’t understand who He is and your idea of God is that He’s way up yonder somewhere, so busy with the transactions of heaven and so interested in people that you consider far more important than you are, and that your little old problems are insignificant and God couldn’t be concerned about you and you’re not worthy of His attention and who are you anyway but a nobody...

Then, my friend, no matter how many times He says in the Bible that He is the God of all comfort, you will walk through valleys of hardship and trial and suffering and difficulty, and you will struggle with unbelief, you will struggle with frustrations and anxieties, and oftentimes get angry and hostile and want to blame and sometimes get bitter toward God because you do not understand that He said He’s the God of all comfort. That means He has committed Himself to comfort you through your heartache, through your suffering, through your tragedy, through your valley experiences. He is the Father of mercies and the God of all comfort.

Now, that very name reveals His nature. That is, He’s caring for me when I’ve hurt my life, scratched it up, broken it, and when it is gouged. Now, it also reveals His very work. Think about this for a moment. Go back, if you will, to Isaiah chapter 61. And you recall in the 61st chapter of Isaiah, this is the scripture that Jesus quoted in the temple when He stood up with the scroll. And listen to what it says in Isaiah about the coming Messiah.

"The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the afflicted. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to captives and freedom to prisoners, to proclaim the favorable year of the Lord and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn." That’s His work. That’s His ministry. That’s why He’s called the God of all comfort. Why? Because it is His character. It is His nature to comfort us.

And not only that, that’s His work; that’s His ministry. You remember when Jesus was here upon earth what He said? He said, "Come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden." Listen to this: "I’ll give you rest." What a wonderful word of comfort. You recall what Jesus said in the 14th, 15th, 16th chapters of John? He said over and over and over again, He said, "And I will send you another Helper, Paracletos, a Comforter. He’ll be in you, with you, and upon you."

He says, "I’m not going to leave you as orphans. I’m going to send you a Comforter, a Helper." He says, "I am a God of all comfort." Jesus said, "I came to comfort those who are hurting and those who are struggling with the despairs of life." Some of you, you’re hurting. Your children have said, "I want nothing else to do with you as my parents. Just forget you know me." That hurts.

You’ve had a financial crisis that’s thrown you in a valley. And somehow, something has happened to your own sense of self-worth, maybe because of criticism or whatever it might be. Your own sense of self-image is dragging in the mud, and you don’t feel like anybody cares. And so you sense despair, defeat, disillusionment, depression. Where is this God of mine? Exactly where He promised to be: He is the God of all comfort, and that’s His work.

Now think about, if you will, when you think about the ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ. Turn if you will to Second Corinthians chapter seven. Listen to what he says here. There are people who are living in depression today, and sometimes that is a physical problem, some chemical imbalance in their life that causes depression. But you know what? A lot of depression is the result of anger and hostility and bitterness and resentment.

And you can trace most of it probably back to anger. Listen to what he says in this passage, verse five of Second Corinthians chapter seven, if we’ll let Him. "For even when we came into Macedonia our flesh had no rest, but we were afflicted on every side: conflicts without, fears within." But listen to this: "But God, who comforts the depressed, comforted us by the coming of Titus." That is, it’s His ministry.

And if you’ll notice in Acts chapter nine, and there are many verses that relate to this, he says in the 31st verse: "So the church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria enjoyed peace, being built up; and going on in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it continued to increase." That is a work and the ministry of the Holy Spirit. Now think about this.

The Bible says that God is the God of all comfort. Jesus said, "I am coming to comfort those who are hurting." And the work and the ministry of the Holy Spirit is comfort. God has chosen to work in your life and my life as the Comforter. And so that you and I are indwelt by the Holy Spirit. Somebody says, "Well, you know, I want to see God. If there is a God, I want to see Him." Listen, He’s too big for your eyes. God’s too big for your eyes. You can’t see Him.

He’s living on the inside of you. You and I have the God of all comfort living on the inside of us. God the Father, the God of all comfort. Jesus coming to comfort us. The Holy Spirit, Jesus said, "I’m going to send Him. He’ll be your Helper, your Comforter. He’ll be with you, in you, and forever your daily comfort." Which means that when you and I are walking through the valleys of despair and hardship and heartache and trial and troubles, and we’re thinking, "God, I’m not going to make it; Lord, there’s no way for me to make it," and we’re tempted to have ourselves a big pity party...

You remember this: the God of all comfort is there saying, "Keep going. Don’t give up. Don’t look back. Don’t say can’t. Yes, you can, because I am there to see to it that you make it through the end of the tunnel, and you’re going to see light if you’ll just trust me." That’s the kind of God we serve. And He says He is the God of all comfort.

Now think about this. When Jesus walked upon this earth, think about how He responded and how He acted toward people. The woman taken in adultery, thrown down, embarrassed in front of all of her accusers. And here’s Jesus, and they want him to make some kind of statement so they can stone her to death and trap Him in the very statement. What is the one most comforting thing Jesus could possibly have said?

Here’s the Messiah, here’s God, here’s a woman caught, trapped in the very act of adultery. And what does Jesus say to her? "Neither do I condemn thee. Go and sin no more." What more comforting word could Jesus have said than that? You know why? Because that’s the nature of a God of all comfort. Listen to me carefully. There’s one thing you’ll never find Jesus doing in the Bible. Jesus will never put you down.

We’re the ones who say, "Shame on you. I can’t imagine. You got yourself in that mess. You deserve what you’re suffering. If you think that’s bad, wait till next time." Not Jesus. No matter how often we stumble and fall and blow it in life, what happens? The God of all comfort is there to do what? To remind me, to assist me, to help me, to relieve me from the pain, and to cheer me on, to remind me: yes, you will make it because you’re going to make it with me.

But you see, if you don’t know Him, you won’t see Him that way. If you don’t know Him, you’ll keep thinking that He’s up yonder being critical and judgmental, and that’s not God at all. God does have His wrath. There is a God of judgment. But for those of us who are His children, listen to what He says: He says the Father of mercies and the God of all comfort.

Now turn back to Psalm 119 for a moment, verse 71. Look at that. David said, "It is good for me that I was afflicted." He must be sick! "That I may learn thy statutes. The law of thy mouth is better to me than thousands of gold and silver pieces." Wait a minute, hold it! "It is good for me that I was afflicted." That I’m suffering persecution, that I’m going through trials. The pressure’s on, I’m in a vice, I’m misunderstood, I’m hurting.

He says, "It is good for me that these things have happened, that I may learn thy statutes, that I may learn the principles of God, I may learn the ways of God, I may understand the nature of God, I may be more conscious of the attributes of God, that God may be able to do something in my life that He’s not done before." He says, "The law of thy mouth, these things that I’m learning, these things are better to me, more valuable to me, than thousands of gold and silver pieces."

I wonder how many believers today can say that. You see, our problem is that we don’t value truth like God values it. This book right here cost God the blood of His Son. And when—listen to this, I haven’t even gotten to the other passage yet—go down to verse 75: "I know, O Lord, that thy judgments are righteous, and that in faithfulness thou hast afflicted me. Oh, may thy lovingkindness comfort me."

He says, "In faithfulness I’ve afflicted you." You say, "Well, do you mean to tell me that you believe that God sends affliction?" I do. Some of it I bring upon myself, some of it other folks may be a part of it, but some of it God just channels my way. You know why? Here’s the reason. Think about it. How will you ever discover the power of God to comfort you until first of all you get in the valley of affliction and trials and hardship and suffering? We’ll never know it until we get there.

And the psalmist could thank God that in his trials and tribulations and cry, "Oh, may thy lovingkindness comfort me." Now, so when Paul says that you and I have a God—listen, he says a Father of mercies and a God of all comfort. Now, so we say this name, the God of all comfort, reveals His nature. It reveals His ministry, but it also reveals His power. Notice these words.

He says, "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and the God of"—what?—"all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any or all types of affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted." Now, who’s the source of all comfort? God. There’s nobody who can really comfort but God.

And oftentimes, when I walk into a funeral parlor and here’s a family who’s really grieved, I know in my heart I might could say a few things, but listen, if the Holy Spirit doesn’t do the comforting, forget it, it’s not going to be done. Because it must be His Spirit comforting. He is the great Comforter. He has the power to comfort in every single situation. He’s the God of all comfort.

And notice how he says it: "who comforts us in all affliction." A woman says, "My husband just walked out and told me he didn’t love me and never wanted to see me again, and my world crashed." Is God sufficient for that? The God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction. And here’s a mother who’s just heard that her son died on an overdose of drugs, and her world came tumbling in. Is God sufficient for that?

And here is a man who is 60 years of age and for 35 years he’s worked for the same company faithfully, and he walks in tomorrow morning and they say to him, "Sorry, you don’t have a job any longer. So long. Thanks for what you’ve done. It’s all over." And his whole future turns dark and frightful. Is God sufficient for that? Here’s what he says: "who comforts us in"—all—"our affliction." And here’s what he’s saying: there’s not anything that God is not willing and cannot comfort us in.

Guest (Male): You’re listening to In Touch with Dr. Charles Stanley. No matter how deep or overwhelming your suffering, if you’re a follower of Christ, He is with you. Cry out to the Lord in humility, and He will reveal Himself as present in the struggle with you. You can study more about the comforting presence of the Lord at our website, intouch.org, or listen again to this message by following the link to Today on Radio.

And if you go to the bookstore page, you can order a copy of Dr. Stanley’s complete message, "The God of All Comfort." You’ll find these resources and a lot more at intouch.org. And you can call or text us at 1-800-INTOUCH. To write to us, address your letter to In Touch, Post Office Box 7900, Atlanta, Georgia 30357.

When your faith is in Christ, an inexplicable peace is available to you. Encouragement is just ahead in today’s moment with Charles Stanley.

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Guest (Male): You’re listening to In Touch. Jesus is the source of prevailing peace for all who trust in Him. Here’s a moment with Charles Stanley.

Dr. Charles Stanley: When you and I are walking through the most difficult circumstances of life, as long as you keep your focus on Christ and who He is living within you in all of His supernatural power, willing and ready in the moment to release through you anything and everything you need to do what—to keep you feeling at-oneness with Him, complete and whole, stable, steadfast, and anchored? That is prevailing peace in a troubled life, in a life of conflict.

And He says here’s the key. The key is that it’s a relationship. And what keeps me steady against the winds is that I firmly fix my focus of faith on the Lord Jesus Christ. I’ve seen people go through the most trying, difficult, tormenting circumstances, and you shake their hand and somehow you feel this awesome, steady quietness and stillness on the inside.

And you remember, my friend, when you receive Jesus Christ, what does He give you? He gives you Himself. And that’s why Paul said He is our prevailing peace. And if you’ll keep your sights firmly fixed and focused on Him, no matter how deep and dark and strong the opposition may be, you’ll walk and you’ll sail and you’ll travel right through the dark into His beautiful, glorious light of faithfulness.

Guest (Male): Strengthen your focus on the Lord when you access the study materials at intouch.org. Have you been encouraged by what you heard today? Take some time to let us know. Tomorrow on In Touch, God comforts His followers. And if you’re a Christian, you can experience His peace. Learn more about our loving Heavenly Father when you join us Friday for more of In Touch, the teaching ministry of Dr. Charles Stanley.

This program is a presentation of In Touch Ministries, Atlanta, Georgia, and remains on the station through the grace of God and your faithful prayers and gifts.