Comfort Caringly responding to a hurting person through words, actions, emotional responses and physical touch; hurting with and for others in the midst of their grief or pain. (Romans 12:15; Matthew 5:4; 2 Corinthians 1:3-4)
Meeting the Need for COMFORT Outside the Church Family
Last week we looked at what may be behind the answer “I’m fine” to the question “how are you?” How much easier we think it is to just say “I’m fine” because, after all, if we are honest, does anyone “really” want to know the true answer?
I think this hits all of us, but this week our focus is on those outside the church family, that is, those who are not believers. How many walk around with hurt inside everyday? How many place a mask upon their face so they can get through the day without the pain leaking out?
Sometimes when I am in a crowd, I wonder what is under “the mask”. What is their story? I bet we would be surprised what is truly beneath the pretty face, the smile, the laugh, the joke. I bet it is safe to say that more often than not, “the mask” is a cover for the TRUE expression and feeling beneath it.
What would happen if we took the time to FIND OUT their story? What if we became a safe place where the mask could drop, even partially for our neighbor, our co-worker, even to a stranger? Let’s take a look at Jesus. The God of ALL comfort! After-all, we all need Comfort, don’t we?
Walk in the Light of Jesus
Will you take a look with me at the story of the leper in Scripture? Imagine with me what that man’s life was like before he became diseased. What was his story? Did he have family, close friends? What did he do for a living? You could put yourself easily in his shoes, couldn’t you? The Bible doesn’t tell us anything about his life other than he needed healing, but we can imagine it probably was a lot like our own.
Can you imagine how his life changed the moment a “spot” appeared on him? Leprosy, the disease that shuns. The Bible has a whole chapter, Leviticus 13, on the law regarding this disease. Though the law’s explanation is complicated, imagine being the one being examined by the priest. You basically would be at his mercy. If declared “unclean”, you were shunned from all you know. Isolated, lonely, disgusted….
If anyone needed comfort, it was one declared unclean.
Then came Jesus….
Matthew 8:3: Jesus “touched” him. WHAT? Yes, Jesus touched him who was shunned and declared unclean! Imagine THE COMFORT in that single touch. Jesus not only touched this man, who probably was unpleasant to the sight and smell, but he cared so deeply he reached to him and made him clean, whole. Oh! What this man must have felt in that moment!
I would like for you to think of a time when you felt alone or rejected, shunned like the leper. Would you bring those feelings to God and open your heart before Him? Was there a time when God reached down and comforted your heart when no one else would? Did God ever send someone to you to comfort you and enter your rejection?
Walk in the light of God’s Word
Let’s experience 1 John 3:18. Let’s Do The Book! Please read the following: 18: Dear children, let us not love with just words or speech but with actions and in truth. (Italics are mine)
Jesus, His actions did all the talking! In a single touch the leper felt comfort and love. Jesus didn’t even need to speak a single word and that man knew this man Jesus cared more for him then anyone else, possibly even his own family because Jesus was willing to “touch” him! Gasp!
Would you? Would you have touched him? What about someone you knew to have the flu or maybe someone that didn’t have a shower for some time? I have asked myself that many times. I would have no problem with sharing words of care, but would I actually touch them, sit by them, share a meal with them? Wouldn’t my action, my touch, my time, or my presence say more than any words I could ever speak? Well, I ask you, what if you were the sick, the outcast, the homeless, what would you want?
Experience 1 John 3:18 If you answered these questions above, would you move to the next paragraph? If not, please take time to recall. I would like for you to think of a time when you felt alone or rejected, shunned like the leper. Would you bring those feelings to God and open your heart before Him? Was there a time when God reached down and comforted your heart when no one else would? Would you thank Him? Would you also remember what it felt like for God to be the only one to show you comfort the next time you see someone who might need a touch of comfort themselves; even if by the world’s standards they appear unlovely?
Walk in the Light of Real Fellowship
In 2001 I was pregnant with my third child. (Yes, this is not Dave Lewis but his assistant Linda) After a couple of months of bed rest my husband and I lost our baby just into my fourth month. We had prayed for this baby for a year before we even got pregnant and then taking a year to become pregnant, this hit us hard. I remember a lot of well-meaning friends and family trying to give comfort by words but usually they came out all wrong. Have you been there? Have you tried to give comfort with words? I have! Sometimes, words don’t come out as our heart intends them.
My friend came over the day I got home from the hospital. She really didn’t say that much to me but it was what she “did” that spoke deeply into my heart. She sat right next to me, real close, held my hand and cried with me. I will never forget that as long as I live. She was feeling my pain with me. That act gave me the most comfort that I remember.
What if we gave comfort with our actions before even speaking a word? Can you ask the Lord to lead you? The next time you are in a crowd, at the grocery store, in the yard the same time your neighbor is, will you ask God to show you when an opportunity arises when they actually lift their mask and allow you in for a moment? What a moment that could mean for them to allow you to comfort them. Maybe that lady at the grocery store is worried that her bill will be too high, maybe a simple action of paying her bill will comfort her heart and bring her relief. Maybe your elderly neighbor needs a hand with the lawn, wouldn’t it speak of great care if they came home to see their lawn nicely mowed?
We don’t know the stories that live in every person alive but Jesus does. We can trust Him to lead us and He will, to be His hands and feet and yes sometimes His mouth. Will you ask Him? Will you trust Him?