God of All Comfort

 

Comfort

Comfortable today?  From the time we are born, this is a priority to us.  We don't outgrow it.  As time goes one, we may get more sophisticated about it (even if all the means are not always helpful) we tend to pursue it.  Comfort.

There are times, however, when many of the things we lean on for comfort are just not enough.  Things get uncomfortable.  Life can be tough.  Most of us don't have to be convinced.

Elijah was a man who lived during some pretty uncomfortable times.  It was a tough time for the whole region he was living in.  But even more than that, prophet that he was, and a successful one at that by anyone's measure, Elijah knew what it was to reach a point low enough that he felt like he was finished.  When you read he scriptural story in 1 Kings 19, which takes place in the wake of one of his most successful moments, you find Elijah coming to the place where he wished he could die.  It is a story that stands as somewhat of a rebuke to those who insist that depression is not something that happens to God's people.  For those of us who have found themselves in similar places, we can know that we are in good company.

What Elijah experiences during this emotionally dark time for him, however, is something that brings comfort to us in similar moments in our lives.  This time, God shows up not in the spectacular display of power on the top of a mountain, but in the silence of a man who is worn out and tired and in need of encouragement.  God knows what he has been through, and meets him with compassion and provision.  God gently helps him regain his perspective.  God invites him to see the road ahead more clearly, knowing that he still has a lot to give and to share. 

This morning Pastor Isaac, with the help of a few people who have been on a journey not unlike this, explore a bit of what it means to find themselves in such places, and to sense God's presence in the stillness in powerful and renewing ways.  Perhaps as we listen to his stories, and reflect on this passage and Pastor Isaac's reflections, we can catch a glimpse of what is so important to see - the comfort of God.

If you would like to listen to the sermon once again, or perhaps for the first time, you can access our sermon library by clicking here.  If you would like to watch the live stream version of the service you can click here. 

I Kings 19

NIV

Now Ahab told Jezebel everything Elijah had done and how he had killed all the prophets with the sword. 2 So Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah to say, “May the gods deal with me, be it ever so severely, if by this time tomorrow I do not make your life like that of one of them.”

3 Elijah was afraid  and ran for his life. When he came to Beersheba in Judah, he left his servant there, 4 while he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness. He came to a broom bush, sat down under it and prayed that he might die. “I have had enough, Lord,” he said. “Take my life; I am no better than my ancestors.” 5 Then he lay down under the bush and fell asleep.

All at once an angel touched him and said, “Get up and eat.” 6 He looked around, and there by his head was some bread baked over hot coals, and a jar of water. He ate and drank and then lay down again.

7 The angel of the Lord came back a second time and touched him and said, “Get up and eat, for the journey is too much for you.” 8 So he got up and ate and drank. Strengthened by that food, he traveled forty days and forty nights until he reached Horeb, the mountain of God. 9 There he went into a cave and spent the night.

And the word of the Lord came to him: “What are you doing here, Elijah?”

10 He replied, “I have been very zealous for the Lord God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, torn down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too.”

11 The Lord said, “Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.”

Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. 12 After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. 13 When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave.

Then a voice said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”

14 He replied, “I have been very zealous for the Lord God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, torn down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too.”

15 The Lord said to him, “Go back the way you came, and go to the Desert of Damascus. When you get there, anoint Hazael king over Aram. 16 Also, anoint Jehu son of Nimshi king over Israel, and anoint Elisha son of Shaphat from Abel Meholah to succeed you as prophet. 17 Jehu will put to death any who escape the sword of Hazael, and Elisha will put to death any who escape the sword of Jehu. 18 Yet I reserve seven thousand in Israel—all whose knees have not bowed down to Baal and whose mouths have not kissed him.”

2 Corinthians 1

NIV

3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, 4 who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.