God Of All Comfortنموونە

Holy Spirit, The Comforter 

Have you ever wished that you had a friend who constantly encourages and comforts you during tough times? If Christ is your Lord and Savior, you have such a Friend. He will always be with you in your difficulties. In fact, he dwells within you! He is the Holy Spirit. Yesterday, we saw that the Spirit is called the ‘Paraclete’ (Jn 14:26; 15:26; 16:7), which means helper, counselor or comforter. So the Spirit comes alongside us, comforts us, and encourages us when we face afflictions.

Before Jesus gave himself as a sacrifice for our sins on the cross, he tells his disciples that the time to leave them had come. He would now go to the Father (Jn 14:1-4). The disciples were very troubled when they heard this because Jesus was with them for over three years. As a Good Shepherd, he led them, taught them, and discipled them. But Jesus comforts his dejected disciples by telling them that the Father will give ‘another Helper’ to them (Jn 14:16). Here, the Greek word for another is ‘allos,’ meaning another of the same kind. Jesus had been their Helper thus far. But since Jesus had to go to the Father, the Father would send another Helper, who is just like Jesus!

You can experience God’s comfort through the Spirit who dwells within you. For instance, when you seek God in your affliction by reading his Word, the Spirit comforts your soul. As you pray in your troubles, he encourages you to trust in the sovereign Lord. The Spirit even uses God’s people to minister to you through their comforting words and deeds.

The wonderful news is that this Helper will be with us “forever” (Jn 14:16)! Jesus was physically present with the disciples for only three years during his earthly ministry. However, his comforting presence would be with his disciples and with us through the Spirit, forever! What an awesome privilege!