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 affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. For as we share abundantly in Christ’s sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too. – 2 Corinthians 1:3-5
Have you ever wondered, thought, or even screamed “God why is all this happening? Why am I going through all this?” I certainly have.
I remember about 20 years ago one bad thing after another happened. It started with my husband, Donnie, falling from a ladder two stories up while working on a house requiring hospitalization for weeks. He then was transferred to a hospital bed at home for three months. He broke his pelvis in six places with two major fractures. In the middle of this I was in a bad car accident. I lost my short term memory and had a bad concussion where I would get so dizzy, I would fall over. Another time I fell flat on my face in the snow while getting fire wood as my husband lay in a hospital bed and my three young children were running around. I got up and looked straight up to heaven and screamed at the top of my lungs, “God, why is all this happening? I love you so much and I am trying my best, but I can’t handle this anymore!!!!” At that moment the God of all Comfort lovingly whispered to my heart “Didn’t you say you would go through anything for Donnie to give his life to me?” I replied, “Yes”. In a way that felt like a giant hug while He whispered again, “This is what it will take.” I bowed my head and with all humility and love I responded, “I am sorry, carry on.” I joyfully picked up the firewood out of the snow and went in the house to care for my family.
God is sovereign. He knows all, sees all, and works all things for the good of those who love Him. As we suffer, He is there to comfort us and we can have comfort in knowing who He is and His loving heart. It is when we have been comforted that we can comfort others. God has a plan and we can trust Him in it. We can sit back and allow Him to comfort us as we go through hard things. One day we will be able to be there for others as they are going through times of suffering as well.
As I sit here in the hospital with my son, I am overwhelmingly grateful for the love and comfort of my church family that God has given me. I am also comforted by God as He reminds me of all those years ago that Donnie accepted Jesus and all that led up to it. I praise God for all that He has allowed and all the comfort He has given me as the last four months have seemed like a whirlwind of suffering. And now land here in the hospital with my son, Joseph. I am grateful for a God of comfort and that I can trust all this will work together for good and the benefit of my son. I am joyfully looking forward in hopeful expectation of what this may bring about and how God can use it and the comfort I have received to now pass on to others.
I pray that all my brothers and sisters in Christ, including myself, would trust and lean on the God of all mercies and comfort in our times of suffering and affliction. I pray that we would grab on to His tassels and never lose hope and faith in Him. I pray that we may see His plans and comfort unfold in our lives. I pray that all of our families would accept Jesus as their Lord and Savior.
Written by Rebecca Murzin
