Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God. For just as we share abundantly in the sufferings of Christ, so also our comfort abounds through Christ. (2 Cor. 1:3-5)

May the Lord give us grace to draw near to God in this time of increased turbulence, and to receive His comfort, so that we in turn can comfort others.

Musing on the comfort that old fashioned eiderdowns offer, Claire Gardner, author of the daily sendout ‘Eyes to See’ wrote this lovely reflection on the comfort of the Lord.

To be comforted:
to be soothed, reassured, consoled, held, freed from constraint.
Do we look to God for this –
or do we drain other people in our search for it?
Or do we “self-medicate” with indulgencies?

When we are tired and hurting,
even the very concept of the “God of all Comfort” can seem a nebulous abstract thing;
our image of God may not include the possibility
that He might wish to hold us, soothe us, and be tender with us:
after all, He is the Awesome Holy One, isn’t He, Glorious in Majesty?
Thank You that the Scriptures are so clear:
“You are the Father of Compassion, and the God of all Comfort,
who Comforts us in all our troubles . . . ”
“I, even I, am He Who Comforts you,”
not only with the ultimate, Eternal Comfort of Salvation,
but also in the here and now, in the nitty-gritty, in the pain;
“As a mother comforts her child, so I will Comfort you . . .
and you WILL be comforted . . .”

Comfort Your people today, Lord, by Your Presence.
Comfort them – and us- by Your Truth.
Comfort with Your Steadfastness,
and comfort by Your Love.
for it is in You we find our security,
and in You we find our solace.
in You we can relax –
unless our restless hearts and prideful prickles prevent us!

We remind ourseves today to “Let go and let God,”
for You are always thinking of us.
We declare that we trust You enough to be able to rest in You alone and above all;
To “snuggle” into You, knowing ourselves to be safe and loved.
To experience that You are at one and the same time
both holy and tender, with no contradiction.
Even so, let it be, Lord Jesus, and for Your glory.

Thank You that the very reason that we can know God as our Comfort
is because You bore all our sins and shortcomings on the Cross:
all the pain, all the shame,
all the negative things;
the “un-things,” the “dis-things,” the mal-things” the mis-things.”
You nullified them by bearing the cost in Your Body.
bearing ALL things,
even as God will place all things under Your Feet.”

Oh, these things still come against us,
but they no longer have the last word, let alone the victory,
for the Victory belongs to Victor: the mighty Risen Lord Jesus,
who declared “It is Finished!”
and is seated now on high, in Glory.

Thank You that You bore it all,
absorbing all the evil into Your highly sentient being;
that You refused to escape but endured to the end
and so made a brand new beginning for multitudes.
Your paid the price in Your Blood for every sin, and every root of sin,
so that our New Covenant is one of Freedom and not fear.

For You, our Saviour, have been before us,
and You go before us to release Your Holy Spirit, the Comforter,
to minister into our lives.
and to help us to overcome.

Oh, we still have many things to suffer,
for we live surrouded by many causes of suffering,
but in our suffering we meet You, Jesus,
because Your suffering meets us there,
and absorbs the sting.
Sin and death are paid for in full,
and we are bought at great cost.
Hallelujah!
What a Saviour!

Nuach and the Dove

To accompany Claire’s post, this is the second track in the series that explores the concept of ‘nuach’ – the deep, settled and empowering rest that the Lord sends.

May you be rested, blessed and empowered as you do so, for the more deeply His nuach settles on us, the more it paves the way for us to be closer to God’s heart.

The music you will hear are improvisations by Nicola Gerard and Christiane von Albrecht, followed by a really beautiful piece for strings and flute that Megan Topper wrote.

Go to ‘Nuach and the Dove’ for a transcript of the words, or to listen to the other tracks in the series.