Comfort

 When someone is going through a hard time, it is common for us to pray that the Lord will comfort them. But what does that really mean? 

The word comfort means "to give strength and hope to." It seems like a big task to be able to give strength and hope when one is dealing with something so devastating. And if it were up to just us, it would be an impossible task. Thankfully, it isn't up to us. The comfort we request is the supernatural-beyond- understanding-impossibly-possible kind that can come from only one place: God's Word. 

In Greek, the word "parakletos" is used to identify the Comforter and means "to plead another's cause to one, an intecessor." It is used multiple times in the Bible in reference to the Holy Spirit. 

So go with me here on the brain train. When we pray for God to comfort someone in their trials, we are essentially calling for the Holy Spirit to intercede for them. Does this not seem appropriate when we don't know how to help the person? When there seems to be no words? 

So as much as we would love to give comfort in words or actions, the only true comfort has to come from the Holy Spirit. It must come from the only one who understands our suffering and intercedes for us. It comes from the one who is all powerful and not from our own strength and hope. Thank you Jesus!

Isaiah 49:13 "... For the Lord has comforted his people and will have compassion on them in their suffering."