No Pain, No Comfort
2 Corinthians 1:3 Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort;
4 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.
It is easy to praise Jesus and quote Hebrews 13:8 when everything is going well, but when things look like they are have gone to the Hell can you still quote this rejoicing? Was He good to you better than you deserved before the storm? Then nothing has changed in the storm. He is still good. He still loves you because He is not changed by the storm, but by the grace of God, the storm should change you.
It should make you run to Him not from Him. You may not understand much about your storm, but He understands it all. He promised peace, not as the world gives peace. The world gives peace when there is no storm. The world seeks to avoid storms, but storms in a sin sick and condemned world are going to come no matter who you are or what you do.
Be careful about listening to people who tell you that being a Christian means a life of prosperity and health. How can you comfort others if you have had no pain? If Christians never had any troubles like sickness, poverty or death everyone would be swarming into church to be Christians. Hence the “success” of prosperity preachers. God does not spare us from all trouble because people need to see how we go through the storm with Him. Indeed, how can you receive comfort when you are comfortable?
All but one of the Apostles were executed and he was exiled. The governor asks Polycarp, a disciple of John, to deny Christ and promises that if he will, his life will be spared, but the faithful bishop answers, “Fourscore and six years have I served him, and he has never done me injury; how then can I now blaspheme my King and savior?” Persecution of Christians has been from the beginning and Paul said that all who live godly WILL suffer persecution. Not seeing that many pastors are preaching that.
John 14: 27 Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.
He promises His peace. His peace comes when you are sucked up in a tornado and spun around at a hundred miles an hour. When you look out of the tornado and see nothing but chaos, disaster and loss all around then peace comes to you from Him.
A missionary labored in a tribe for a long time with no interest in the Gospel or so it seemed. His wife contracted Black Water Fever and bled to death through her kidneys. They buried her in a hollow log praising God for her life at the grave site and praising Him is song. That night there was a cough at his door for they do not knock as we do. The man came and quickly received Christ. All night long it was cough after cough and salvation after salvation. At sunrise the Chief of the tribe came in and was saved. The shocked missionary asked why the sudden change of heart. The Chief replied, “We knew Jesus was good for living, but now we know He is good for dying.” Sometimes your storm is how others find the One who can calm theirs.
If you really know who God is, and that He is immutable, then you know that when all is unbalanced in your life He is stable. When you are surrounded by hate, you are in the middle of His love. When your life looks like the aftermath of a nuclear strike, He already sees your life restored and renewed. He IS the same yesterday and today and forever.
Hebrews 13:8 Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.
I wish to apply this verse.
Jesus Christ, the same before my storm, in my storm and after my storm.
When my son died in October that was a huge unexpected storm in my life. It was as if a tornado dropped out of the sky and turned my life into a scene of disaster. Watching my wife fall to the floor in tears was harder than the actual news of his death. Seeing how this is affecting her, my daughter-in-law and my granddaughter is more difficult to cope with then his death.
God has given me great peace about my son. Does his death stink? Yes! Do I hate it? Yes! Having lost my father at seven, did I want my 5-year-old granddaughter to experience this? Absolutely, NO! Yet!! I am not mad at God. Indeed, as I said, I need Him through this. I know this peace is of Him. Without Him, I would have been somewhere drunk out of mind and in a complete breakdown. Indeed, I probably would have done something the devil suggested if I did not have this peace from God.
Barron is my only son. I say, is, not was because he is alive. I have lost his presence, but I have not lost him. I know where he is and I know he is well. Indeed, his favorite song is “It Is Well” and it is now more well with his soul then it has ever been.
He was not only my son, but also my friend after he matured into an awesome man. In later years, he became a mentor to me though I am the preacher. He had to help me out of the morass of legalism that I was stuck in for many years. He would always tell me with a smile, “Dad, God is in control” whenever I would get angry or upset about something. That is what I heard him say on the drive home from TN and that is part of what sustains me is that I know he would not want us to shut down or grieve for a long period. That is why I was in church at my post the Sunday after his death. He would never want his soldier dad to desert his post.
I believe that God has given me this peace because one, I am the weakest link. As I said, I would not be doing this well or able to preach this sermon without His peace. In addition, because I am the man and it is my role to comfort and provide for my wife and my son’s family. I do not know how much longer I will be here, but by God’s grace I will perform my duty of love to him and them.
1 Thessalonians 4:13 “But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope.”
Isn’t it great that He did not say to not sorrow at all? Many have meant well in trying to comfort my family, but the ones who are doing this best are the ones who hug and say they are praying for us. Some have meant well, but have not done so well. I was afraid I was going to have to be a bouncer and remove one person because they were only making things worse. They may have suffered a loss and went through grief counseling, but they were no counselor.
I have been given three explanations of why my son is in Glory. Some say it was time for him to be promoted for all the good he has done for the kingdom. Others say the devil killed him because he was a threat to satan. Thirdly, it was because of his genetic propensity to have an MI and the stress he was experiencing. To be honest, none of those reasons really matter because he is still out of our presence and it may be another reason. It could have been trying to live the American Dream that caused the stress and hypertension. Stress kills silently. Still, it does not matter. It is a why question we will not get on this side of life and when God puts that puzzle piece in place we will not much care then as we will be there with Him and Barron so it will not matter.
I am at peace because I know where he is and he died a godly man. His life affected five hundred people who were able to attend the celebration of his life as well as many who lived out of state or for other reasons could not attend. I have been in ministry over forty years and I can promise you not that many will attend mine. He was a fruitful servant without ordination, degree or pulpit. What more could a father ask from a son than that?
What could he have accomplished if he had lived longer? We will never know, but he accomplished in forty-three years more than many Christians who live to be ninety. Maybe he was at his peak and as Christ came in the fullness of time or the right time it may have been the right time for him to have as much or more impact by his death then he would have by a longer life. His death made many people rethink their life and we know some have made some life decisions because they knew his life and how his early death affected them. How much will the ripple effect of this advance the kingdom of heaven and bring destruction of satanic strongholds we do not know. Our prayer is that it will affect generations and spread very wide. Only eternity will tell.
God has provided for my daughter-in-law and the granddaughter and He will provide. Indeed, I made it through the death of my father and raised by a widow. Trinity is a thousand light years ahead of me because her mother and immediate family are Christians. She is in a good Christian school and the church family they have has surrounded them with love and support.
His leaving us left a large hole, but God will fill it. We will heal. We will live in a way pleasing to God and honor the life of my son because we have hope and He will provide all we need because He loves us and is full of grace and mercy
God is good all the time and all the time God is good. Sound theology is comforting and brings hope. Feelings will beat you senseless as they pound you between the ceiling and the floor. Cling to the One that can never change and will change you through the storm into one that has the peace He gives and you will be able to bring others into that place of peace with the comfort He gives you. Peace in your storm will help you minister to others as you lead them to call out to Jesus. Fair winds and calm seas are what we all want, but we need not fear the storms if we allow Him to come in and say, "Peace, be still!" Hallelujah! Maranatha!
May 17, 1980 A Paid Lover?
Do I praise only when the sun's not under cover?
Do alleluias come only when the waves of blessing roll?
Oh God, am I just a well paid lover
Or do I love you from the depth of my soul?
The skies often grow black and life is so cold.
No beams of love I perceive.
Does then my Christian testimony remain bold
Or do I, alone, in bitter silence grieve?
The tender words of a well paid lover,
Is this what the Master truly desires?
No, not ones who around the paymaster hover,
But those whose hearts are raging fires!
Old Job, your love was certainly tried,
Your soul sifted and doom your only cover.
From the Bible's pages, God hast cried,
"You're not well paid, but truly my lover!"
Yes, God poured out gifts from above
And gave you more than you had at the start.
These were not wages. They were tokens of love
To the one who always loved God from his heart.
In my testings and trials that often abound,
When there is no sense of peace from above,
O, then in such a state let my heart be found
That when Satan screams, "Paid, Paid!", I whisper, "Love."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QNvcxuRQ0dc
