Describe Him: Comfort

"Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort; who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God.  For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also aboundeth by Christ.”   

 2 Corinthians 1:3-5

Just over two weeks ago, a fellow-student with me and Isaac our freshman year here at Cornerstone Bible Institute became one of the 19 firefighters killed in the Yarnell, Arizona fire.  Isaac and I were privileged to attend the funeral service for Dustin DeFord last Saturday. The testimony for the Lord that Dustin left is being spread throughout this nation, perhaps even in different parts of the world.  The witness that his family is now having in their response to his death is an incredible testimony to the Lord.  Even so, the DeFord family and close friends of Dustin are, without a doubt, having to claim the comfort that only God can.

A quick look at a dictionary aid for Greek expands our English definition of comfort from simply being “relief from pain or anxiety” to that which is “an encouragement towards virtue” or an “exhortation, admonition or encouragement for the purpose of strengthening and establishing the believer’s possession of redemption.” ^{(The Hebrew-Greek Key Word Study Bible, page 1745.)}

Somehow, in a way that I do not fully understand, this comfort that God gives to us to is then be passed on to others. First Thessalonians 4:17-18 ties together this comfort with the believer’s hope: “Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.  Wherefore comfort one another with these words." A few verses later, in chapter 5:11, the believer is again reminded to “…comfort yourselves together, and edify one another, even as also ye do.”

From the testimony of the DeFord family, I believe their comfort truly does lie in their confident expectation that Dustin is at this very moment in God’s presence, rejoicing with other saints and praising the God who saved him.