hope

Comfort for you

God sometimes lets us go through certain situations because He wants to use us to help others. The challenges we encounter can make us more effective in supporting others; they can also improve our skills in managing relationships.

You may never understand why certain people behave the way they do until you have been in their shoes. In recent times, I have been in a space that has brought me valuable insights into why people take certain decisions. I may not validate all those decisions, but I can connect better with them from an informed position.

You may never understand what it means to work in a toxic environment until you find yourself in one. You may never know what rejection feels like and the mix of emotions that come with it until you have walked that path. You may not know what a heartbreak feels like until you yourself have seen the one you deeply love walk away from you. You may not understand what it feels like to have a label you did not bargain for, placed on your forehead until you are wrongly judged over an issue.

Some tirades come from a place of pain, fear or rejection. Some outbursts are triggered by abuse in a toxic relationship. You would need to understand this and be patient with people.

As God enables you, be a source of strength and comfort to people around you. When you have received comfort, be willing to share that comfort with others too. If you have walked that path before and someone around you is struggling, be a guide.

Paul says in 2 Corinthians 1:3-4, 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 tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.

Our faithful High Priest was tempted in every way and is able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them (Hebrews 7:25). We have a Saviour who knows our pains and who has graced us to thrive and to help others too. Through that experience of yours, God has great plans. So, whether you need to help someone or you need help yourself, the Spirit of Jesus is there with you as your helper.

Thanksgiving

Giving thanks should be without comparison.

Being grateful should have nothing to do with another person’s circumstance. Let us be grateful because God loves us and has been good to us, not because we are better than anyone else. Gratitude should not be because you are not in the hospital while someone else is on admission. It should not be because you can afford what others cannot afford. It should not be because you did not have a CS operation while your friend went under the knife. It should not be because you are married while your neighbour is a single parent.

Your thanksgiving should reflect your relationship with God, your walk with God. It should be about the goodness of God to you. It should be because God says it is a good thing to give thanks to Him.

Some individuals refrain from giving testimony in church due to feelings of comparison. They are bothered that the congregation may not shout and clap as much as it did for the previous testifier. This is why testifying that you won a soul for Christ may not be very popular or get the congregation screaming with their chairs above their heads. It is not as interesting as a testimony about two jobs to choose from and a new car. The con man’s testimony about cars and houses while he is still unrepentant, ironically, may get the loudest cheer – all these because of the standards people may use.

When we measure gratitude or show appreciation to God by the world’s standards, we miss it. Those standards keep changing and deteriorating. Our gratitude to God should stem from His goodness to us. It should also be because it is a good thing to give thanks to Him (Psalm 92:1). The magnitude of our thanks should not be influenced by the circumstances of others.

Jesus healed ten lepers but only one returned to thank God. Could it be that in reality only one out of ten people today know what it actually means to be thankful?

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