The God of All Comfort

Good morning, brethren. I'd like to say thank you to Mr. Schmidt and Mr. Cook for providing the special music. For those of you who might not recognize them, they're not here every week. They were in for the five-day continuing education program that ABC does. And, of course, we have a few others who are still around, and that's a nice thing. One of the things I thought, as we said goodbye to our graduating class last Sunday, that all of us and the faculty were kind of sad to see that happen, but then with a group of 31 people showing up the next morning, it sort of directed our attention, and we didn't have time to think about it too much. I'm not sure what we'll do now. It's going to be very quiet around here. But we find things to keep ourselves occupied, of course.

I'm pausing before I start my message. It seemed like there was something else I wanted to say, and I forgot what it was. But I'll think of it later. But one of the reasons I'm here, many of you might not realize if you don't see the speaking schedule, I wasn't originally scheduled, which is sad for those of you that are still here from the continuing ed. You might be thinking, boy, this guy again? We just heard him for four hours yesterday. But we had some switching around because of things that come up. For one thing, several people here in the office traveled to North Carolina because they wanted to attend the funeral for Rod Meredith, and we've had other crises going on at times. And that sort of led me to the subject that I thought I might address today, because there's always times, and it seems to come and go, when we face difficulties. We have tough times, sad times. And of course, there's always that. Sometimes it's personal within our families. Other times, all we have to do is turn on the evening television news. It's easy to be saddened by reports of wars and murders, depravities. And if you are a love our country, and of course, this weekend, we have Memorial Day reminding us of those who have sacrificed to help make the United States what it is. But it seems that it's not hard to find organized groups making concerted efforts to undermine the values that help you build this country. So, when we face things like that, it does affect us. Some families have had grief. We had a message from the Evans, and they certainly were hit very hard. In a congregation, we lose people, good people, that we love, and we wish we could spend more time with. And of course, we're aware that there are some who are undergoing pretty severe health problems. When those things happen, it's natural to pray to God and say, God, why are you letting this happen? Why don't you answer our prayers? We're begging you for healing, for deliverance. If you let yourself, it could be easy to say, maybe our faith is in vain. Maybe God isn't really there after all. Now, I doubt that anyone here is really given careful thought in that way, but that's the kind of thought that can flip through your mind at times when things are tough. So, I thought it might be worth spending some time addressing this subject, because for all of us, it comes up, and it seems like it's coming up more often lately. It's forced on us, and we want to keep in mind that during times of grief and trial, we want to draw closer to God. Not allow emotions to pull us away or distract us in bad ways. I'm not at all saying that we shouldn't feel those emotions. That's not the point. We can have very strong emotions, but we also want to have the knowledge and the hope that lies within us help us to control those emotions, guide them into proper channels. So, today, I wanted to give some consideration to why it is that we suffer, you know, how God can and will comfort us in those times.

First, let's consider the general question, and it's one that's been common to mankind for a long time. Why does God allow people to suffer? People wonder—you've probably heard it put this way, especially if you have friends or coworkers who don't believe in God or who are having doubts. They say, well, if there is a God, if He's all-powerful, why is the world like it is? Why would an all-powerful, loving God allow misery, allow torture and suffering? Now, I wonder if we were to have a pop quiz—and I'm not giving you a pop quiz. I point that out because we've looked at that. It's a relatively easy question to answer, in a sense, for us. You know, we've proved it to ourselves, and, of course, God's churches publicly sought to answer it. I knew we had these. I went in the mailroom, and I thought, well, here's that same question, and we've got a nice booklet. And then I found the other one. This is, why does God allow suffering? Then, more specific, why am I suffering?

So, obviously, I'm not going to present something new here today.

The Bible shows that God created mankind with what we call free moral agency. He made people able to make choices. He allows us, then, to experience the consequences of those choices, whether good or bad.

I won't turn to it there, but you might make note of Proverbs 22 and verse 8. Proverbs 22, 8, it says very succinctly, He who sows iniquity will reap sorrow.

He who sows iniquity will reap sorrow. So, sometimes, and I would say not every time by a long stretch, but there are times when you're suffering, it's worth asking, well, what have I been sowing in my life? Am I reaping that? But I hesitate to, well, I don't hesitate. I want to say very clearly, there are many other causes of suffering besides our own personal sin. But doing wrong throughout mankind's history has caused a lot of suffering. I put a paraphrase of that. My oldest brother-in-law has a phrase he likes to use that's similar. Instead of saying, if you sow iniquity, you'll reap sorrow. He likes to say, if you mess with a bull, you're going to get the horns. You're going to credit Steve Ward for that.

But it's easier, I think, for us to accept and understand that and put it into its place when we think about what we usually call the plan of God. That overall plan and purpose that we know God is working out. And it helps as we're approaching a Holy Day in just over a week. The Holy Day cycle reminds us of that plan on a regular basis. But I want to summarize it so that we don't have only hour-long services. But we know God recreated the earth, as we believe, and He put life on the planet. He created a man and a woman after His own image and likeness. And He put Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. And as I said, He gave them a choice. He told them what they should do and shouldn't do. You can eat of all these trees, but this one, don't eat it. Don't touch it. And they did eat it. They took it and they brought the results. And I've always liked the way Herbert Armstrong described what happened afterwards. I believe it's in Mystery of the Ages, and I don't have the quote. But he said, when God sent them out of the Garden, in essence, He said, Okay, go your own way. Make up your own governments, your own moral codes. Make up your religions, your forms and systems of education, and suffer the consequences. You're going to do things your way. You're going to learn the hard way. And, of course, God still reserved for Himself the right to work with individuals, to call some out to whom He would reveal the truth, even make His Spirit available. In time, He chose a nation that descended from the one man that He'd worked with. He worked with Abraham and then with Isaac and Jacob. And He called out their descendants as the Nation of Israel and revealed His law to them. And I find it intriguing. I discuss this fairly regularly. I think I did this past week, how He taught them His law. He gave them civil government, everything they would need to be able to have a good, happy life.

Except for one thing. He didn't give them His Holy Spirit. Not in general. We know some individuals did. But it seems that He gave them the opportunity to prove to all the rest of us that mankind on His own can try every conceivable form of government, education, moral code. But without God's guidance and without His Spirit to make it possible, we're going to suffer.

All mankind lives under the simple truths that Paul wrote in the book of Romans. These are memory scriptures. Romans 3, 23, and then later in Romans 6, 23. Everyone has sinned. The wages of sin is death. So in short, we could say that suffering and death exist because mankind brings it on itself. We all sin. We've all learned the death penalty.

Anything that's better than that, anything short of instant death, is actually a benefit and a gift from God. And I'm not saying that to make us feel bad about ourselves, but just to realize that the state of suffering that seems to pervade the earth isn't all that unusual. It's not out of beyond understanding. But of course, if our understanding stopped right there, boy, life would just seem like a complete misery and vanity.

But our understanding does not stop there. This is not all there is to this world and for us. God does allow bad things to go on in the world now, and most people are getting the experience of that life. They're living in a world deceived by Satan. And I hadn't even mentioned the fact that there is an evil being who wants people to suffer and lead them into that way.

So everyone is experiencing that, but everyone, and I mean everyone, will have a chance to experience the opposite. We call 1 Corinthians 15 the resurrection chapter. I do want to turn there because it provides a lot of information about what lies ahead, and it helps us to understand this important fact. 1 Corinthians 15, I don't want to read the whole chapter, but I'll begin in verse 19.

And I said, He's picking up right where I'd led to. If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we're of all men the most pitiable. I like the original King James where it said, we're of all men most miserable. If in this life only we have hope in Christ.

Then comes the end, when He delivers the kingdom to God the Father, when He puts an end to all rule and all authority and power. For He must reign till He's put all enemies under His feet, and the last enemy that will be destroyed is death.

I love that. Whenever I conduct a funeral, I like to include that scripture. It tells us it's okay to think of death as an enemy. It is. We dislike death. We fight against it. But we have that hope. That enemy is going to be put down when that time comes. And I think what I just read in some ways is an abbreviated version of the meaning of the annual Holy Days. We're reminded that Christ paid the penalty for sin, and thus a resurrection from death is possible. We review that in Passover every year. We're reminded that God calls a few people now and gives them His Holy Spirit to enable them to overcome sin. And that's pictured by the days of Unleavened Bread and Pentecost. You'll pardon me if I combine some things. In due time, Christ is going to return to this earth. He's going to raise up the saints who had the Holy Spirit when they died, and they'll reign on earth for a thousand years, with Satan bound and kept out of the picture. And the majority of the fall Holy Days remind us of that, with the Feast of Trumpets, the Day of Unleavened Bread, the Feast of Tabernacles. And then we look beyond that. After the millennium, there will be a general resurrection. We use the term second resurrection because the Bible speaks of a first resurrection. All those who have ever lived and not known God are going to be brought back to life. In the flesh, they will have an opportunity to turn away from the past way of life that we know brings suffering. They'll have an opportunity to receive God's Holy Spirit and live happy lives. We wonder that that's the astounding meaning of what we call the eighth day, or what we've commonly called the last great day, that these people will have this chance. That not only explains why God allows suffering, but I think it provides a lot of comfort to understand that. Of course, that's described. A picture of this is found in Ezekiel 37. If you'll turn with me there, I think it's worth reading. I'm going to begin in verse 12 of Ezekiel 37.

Here, of course, the prophet Ezekiel was seeing a vision. This wasn't actually happening, but it's a vision of something that will. God tells him, Therefore prophesy and say to them, which is referring to the dead remains of all of Israel, and he says, No, that I the Eternal have spoken it and have performed it, says the Lord. Now, some people will point to this and say, well, he's talking about Israel. Specifically, he says Israel.

What about everyone else? Well, I believe this is symbolic of what's available to everyone else. And in the book of Revelation, chapter 20, we see that. We see what I believe is the same event, but broaden out to all mankind, beginning in Revelation 20, verse 11. And here we see the phrase that we often use to describe this wondrous event. In Revelation 20, verse 11, The Apostle John says, This means that people who are not called now, people who don't have God's Spirit now, and the understanding that that Spirit gives them, the ability to have a relationship with God that that Spirit gives them, these people are not being judged now.

They are suffering. They're reaping the consequences of sin, but they're not having an eternal judgment on them. We believe that when the resurrection comes, the books that will be opened, this seems to us to be representative of the books of the Bible, opened to their understanding, and that they'll have a period of time to change their life and accept the guidance from that.

There is indication that that might be a hundred-year period. Just think, those of us who are struggling to become more like God, have you been at it for a hundred years? Not yet, but how much better can we do if we have that amount of time? That's one of the things that gives me confidence that most of these people are going to accept God's guidance in teaching.

It's going to be a really happy time. But the fact that these people, looking ahead that they don't have that opportunity now, it tells us a lot of why there's so much suffering in the world.

Because God's not working with most of those people now. They are subject to time and chance, to just haphazard things, and they're subject to Satan's deception, to his manipulation. I won't turn there, but as 2 Corinthians 4 and verse 4 tells us, he is the God of this age, and he's not a beneficial, loving God. And I'm saying God with a small g, and that's what it refers to. He has control and a lot of influence, and it's not for the good.

But a time's coming when that's going to change. God will take away Satan. God will take away suffering. He'll give all those people out there, those refugees in Syria. If you watch the news, you see the images of children suffering from gas attacks and things like that. God is going to pick them up. He's going to heal them. He's going to give them a fair chance. And we believe most people then will be ready and willing to accept the alternative to what they have now. Okay. That makes sense. As I said, we know and understand that. We've been publishing it for years.

That's one reason I didn't want to go through it too slowly. I think we have understanding. But we're the called-out ones. We have God's Spirit. We're not left to Satan's destructive ways. Why do Christians suffer? And we might ask the question sometimes in general, couldn't God have made it differently? Do we have to go through this suffering that comes from sin and from Satan's efforts? Couldn't he have made it differently? Why do we have to overcome sin? I could look back at the Holy Days. We've passed a season where we discussed that. But in short, we understand that God made it the way he did because suffering helps us to develop what we call righteous character.

And you might say, well, yeah, does it have to be that way? And maybe God would have a different answer, but it seems that the answer is yes. And I think the reason for it is God created us to be his children. He made us to be his family. He didn't make us to be his pets. He doesn't want programmed robots who don't have any choice as to whether or not to obey. And being born into God's spiritual family as his spirit-begotten children is what life is all about.

And suffering now is a vital part of that. If you will, turn with me to Romans 5. And while you're turning there, I'll say again, I realize that this is a review of a very basic doctrine for us. I'm not proposing to stand up and teach you something you don't know, but it's something that's worth reviewing at times when things are tough, when people are suffering. Romans 5 will begin in verse 2.

Speaking of Jesus Christ at the end of verse 1, it says, I like the thing, we stand and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. And not only that, we also glory in tribulations.

We force ourselves to glory in tribulations. That doesn't come naturally. But the reason is that knowing that tribulation produces perseverance, and perseverance produces character. Character produces hope. And Paul writes, We have hope. We know there's something better ahead for us. That the suffering and the hurting that we might feel at any time, you know, when someone we know is suffering, when we've lost someone we love, you know, we have a hope that not everyone else has.

When we experience the results of sin in this life, suffering and death, it can make us learn and believe deep down that we don't want those things. We don't want the way of life that Satan promotes. Because we know that way brings suffering. It brings death.

Jesus Christ, of course, didn't earn that, but He learned from it. I'm going to turn to Hebrews 2 and verse 10.

Hebrews 2 and verse 10 briefly, and then we'll move on from there.

Speaking of Jesus Christ, who was our High Priest, it says, It was fitting for Him for whom are all things, by whom are all things, and bringing many sons to glory. That's referring to us. We're the many sons and daughters to bring to glory.

Actually, I just said it wrong. Fitting for Him, it's referring to the Father, through Jesus Christ, bringing many sons to glory to make the captain of their salvation. That's Jesus Christ, perfect through sufferings.

Jesus Christ, it says, was made perfect through sufferings. Not to say that He was imperfect before, but we could say more complete. I want to move ahead to 1 Peter 3.

1 Peter 3 and verse 18 gives us a little more insight about this suffering.

For Christ also suffered, also meaning in addition to all of us, He also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust. He didn't sin. He didn't earn any suffering. But He did it for us, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the Spirit.

That reminds us, we don't get an exemption from suffering because we're Christians. We could turn it around and say the other way. Rather, we must have the suffering, as a part of our development, coming to perfection.

Here in 1 Peter also, if we move back towards the front of the book a little, in chapter 2.

Chapter 2 and verse 19 says, This is commendable if because of conscious towards God one endures grief, suffering wrongfully.

Sometimes we suffer and we don't deserve it.

For what credit is it if when you're beaten for your faults, you take it patiently? But when you do good and suffer, if you take it patiently, this is commendable before God. And it's interesting what He says after this. For to this you are called. Meaning, we're called partly for the purpose of suffering and learning to suffer patiently because it builds righteousness. It's commendable. And that word that's translated commendable in English is from the Greek word karas, which is most places translated as grace. And grace is divine favor, a divine benefit. I find it fascinating that Peter is saying, when you suffer, it's a divine benefit from God. But only if you suffer and take it patiently because then it's making you better. You're growing in grace, as Peter exhorts us to do later. And we're being like Jesus Christ, who is our role model. Verse 21, for to this you are called because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example that you should follow in His steps. So if we want to follow in the example of Jesus Christ, yeah, we'll suffer. And we'll force ourselves to look for the good in it. And I'll admit force because I've never been in a trial where I go, Yippee! Boy, I love that I'm hurting and suffering. No, usually I'm doing what I'm going to describe in a little bit. I'm hurting, I'm angry or frustrated, and I'm praying for God to deliver me for it, or from it. If you'll go back to 1 Peter 4, or move to the back of the book, I'll read one more scripture from here, where Peter comes back to this theme. It's one of the main themes for which he wrote this book, and I was discussing it in class yesterday, which only means something to a handful of you, but 1 Peter 4 and verse 12. Beloved. Beloved, we could say Peter loved the church, but God calls us his beloved, and we could think of this as God's words to us. Beloved, don't think it's strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though such some strange thing happened to you. But rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ's suffering, that when his glory is revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy. And he's saying, yeah, I love you, but you're suffering to become like Christ, so that, like him, you'll also be glorified. And I keep saying you, but if there was a big mirror, I could be saying these words to me. I need to learn these lessons, and that's one of the reasons I wrote this for myself, and I thought I could share it with all of you.

This sort of indicates that we shouldn't be surprised or upset when we're going through a trial. More likely, if it seems like we're not going through enough trials, we might say, hmm, am I missing something or doing something wrong? But there I say, don't worry about it. The time will come. But there are places in the Bible that tell us it's part of the process of developing godly character and tells us that it'll be worth it. I added in my notes Ecclesiastes 7 and verse 3. I won't turn there, but it's one of those places I really like. Solomon, who had a lot of wisdom, says, sorrow is better than laughter. And the reason, he says, for by a sad countenance, the heart is made better. But when you have a sad countenance, you're sad or upset about something, your heart is being made better, even though it might not feel like it at the time.

If you will, let's go back to Romans 8. See another passage that addresses this. Romans 8 beginning in verse 16. It says, Romans 8, 16, The Spirit itself bears witness with our spirit. We are the children of God. Again, this section I wanted to move away from why is there suffering in the world to why do we as Christians suffer? Well, here it's telling us, the Spirit of God in us makes us children of God. And I said that and I lost my place. Okay, the Spirit itself bears witness with our spirit that we're children of God.

And if we're children, then heirs. Yeah, heirs with Christ. Airs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we... And to be a joint heir with Christ means to join in His suffering, that we also may be glorified together. So it also means to join in the great tremendous blessing. For I consider the sufferings of this present time aren't worthy to be compared with the glory which will be revealed in us. You know that. You've read this before. It's worth us reading again just to remind ourselves. It makes sense. But it doesn't always make it easy, does it? It's easy to say, yeah, I know this, I understand it.

But, you know, even reminding ourselves, you know... Sometimes I wonder about this. We need to remind ourselves, no, when we're suffering, God's not off somewhere, you know, busy watching TV and didn't notice some bad thing happen to us. He's involved. He knows what we're going through. And I've been addressing this somewhat in an academic manner. You know, in my mind, I like equations. You could say, like it's a mechanical process.

Going through suffering manufactures character. You know, like it's bring the raw materials together, put them through this process, and out the other end comes what we want. And that works. You know, we're manufacturing character, in a sense. But the other part of it, though, is we're not just machines, or we're not just raw materials. We're people. We're people who hurt. Our emotions sometimes ache. When we're suffering, you know, when I'm suffering, I don't necessarily want someone to come up and slap me on the back and say, Oh, this is good for you.

Toughen up, dunker. You'll make it. What I want then is something to try to make it a little bit better. And I don't think that's something that God is upset with. You know, this is, I guess a few years ago, I focused on this quite a bit because I hadn't explored it as deeply as I thought. But the idea that the reason we have feelings and emotions, I believe, is because God has feelings and emotions.

When He made us after His image and His likeness, it's not just to have two arms and two legs and a head because He has those things. I believe that's true, but I think He also made us to be able to love. He made us to be able to hurt. And I've seen that going through the stories in the prophets. There's one place where God is talking about the sins of Israel turning to false gods, and He described it as saying, My heart churns within me. I thought, wow, if God's heart can churn within Him, no wonder He made it so we feel that way sometimes.

And one of the reasons I wanted to call the sermon, The God of All Comfort. God doesn't just say, okay, this will work out for your good, but He all promises us comfort. I want to turn to Isaiah, chapter 61, and read a passage to remind us that God's not far away when we're suffering. Isaiah 61. Now, this is a prophecy of Jesus Christ, and later He would read this in the synagogue. It says, The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to preach good tidings to the poor.

He sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, the opening of the prison to those who are abound, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord in the day of the vengeance of our God. Now, that seems to be referring to a second coming, but He goes on there. He also says, To comfort all who mourn. That was part of the mission of the Messiah, comfort for those who mourn.

To console those who mourn in Zion, to give them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the Spirit of heaviness, that they may be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified. I love that phrase, beauty for ashes. Because you know, when you're really hurting and suffering, do you ever feel like you're just ashes inside?

And God is saying, I'm going to take care of that. He promises comfort. And the words on the page help, but I'll have to admit, and I'm pausing, because I think, you know, one of these days when Connor is older, he's going to get me back for using him as an example in so many sermons. It occurred to me, I was thinking, I know, I saw on the schedule next week, Ryan McNeely is coming as a guest speaker.

I don't know how often his dad used him as an example. Now Ryan has a chance to turn the tables. I'm sure he does it for good, but I don't know if Connor ever gets to speak what might happen, but I'm going to use him as an example anyways. Mostly because of the example from my learning, because if you remember when he was younger, Connor became very verbal at a pretty young age. And so it was natural for me to expect him to be more mature than he really was, and that wasn't always true. But Connor learned to put things into words that, you know, maybe a lot of kids feel that don't express, because, you know, he's like me.

I remember my grandmother telling me, when you were a kid, you cried a lot. I didn't know what that meant until I had a son. One of the things I tried hard to teach him is, I would use this phrase, It's not okay to cry because you're not getting something you want. Don't cry just because you don't get your way. I would say, now, if you're hurt, it's okay to cry. Boys can cry if they're hurt, and if you're sad, you can cry. It didn't take him long, though, when he didn't get something he wanted to start crying, and he would say, I'm so sad!

Now, it seems funny, but we've got a lot of young children here, and a lot of parents of older children, when you're your little child, looks at you with tears running down and says, I'm so sad! That can really hit you right here. That's kind of heartbreaking. Now, I said, there might be times when he was smart enough and aware enough to be using that to manipulate my feelings, but I suspect a lot of times, even if it was because he wasn't getting his way, he was sad.

And I think, you know, I'm sure I appear to God the Father. Sometimes, I was going to say, as mature as Connor does to me, but probably the gap is much greater. You know, I seem like a little child. So, perhaps sometimes I'm sad because God is not giving me what I want. I'm not getting my way. God, he won't answer my prayers, and perhaps God thinks, oh, I'm just trying to get my way. But maybe he's also moved in the same way I am. And I need to learn to listen to what God tells me the same way I wish my son would listen to me. There have been times when Connor wants ice cream. He's like, no, we don't have ice cream for breakfast. And I'm thinking, later on in the day, perhaps we can have ice cream. But out of all that, okay, no, it's not appropriate. We're going to have Cheerios for breakfast. Later on, maybe you can have some ice cream. But you know what he hears? He hears those two letters, N-O. And I wonder, sometimes when I'm fervently asking God for something, I've prayed for God to heal people of cancer. I've prayed that God would remove serious health difficulties, disabilities, and give someone a normal life. And perhaps he's telling me, it's not the way I'm going to do it at this time. No, not yet. Later on, this will happen. And all that I hear is no. And I'm so sad. Is it wrong for me to be sad? I don't think so. That's one of the things I learned when Connor would be crying and telling me, I'm so sad, I'd be tempted to spank him because I'm not God. I fall far short. But when I would be present enough, I would put my arms around him and just try to comfort him and console him. I think we could trust God to do that with us. He gives us ways to comfort us. Of course, He gives us each other. He gives us comforting words. He gives us His Spirit. I want to look at some of that. I just read a passage in Isaiah 61 that I think should help. I want to turn to another one. In a book we don't quote very often, it's the Book of Lamentations. Lamentations, which comes right after Jeremiah and just before Ezekiel. It's easy to miss. It's not a very long book. But Jeremiah wrote the book, we believe it was written by Jeremiah, to express his great sadness and grief after his country was overrun. His hometown or the town where he'd lived and worked was destroyed. He's grieving over the conquest of Judah and the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple. Now, if you read the book of Jeremiah before Lamentations, you realize the people of Judah deserved that punishment. God called on them to repent, and they didn't. But still, Jeremiah was sad. And I think it's interesting. God includes the book of Lamentations in Scripture. Perhaps that's an indication to us that it's not wrong to be sad and to cry out. And sometimes hearing a sad song and Lamentations perhaps could have been put to music. Sometimes a sad song is what you need, and it helps pick you up. I was humming earlier today because I noted—it made me think of a song that came out in the 80s by Elton John. And I don't remember the title, but it's about sad songs. And he says, you know, turn them on, turn them on, turn on those sad songs. When our hope is gone, you know a sad song saves so much. I'm glad Elton John's not here to hear me singing that.

But, you know, sometimes you want to hear a sad song. And the book of Lamentations has that, but it also has a ray of hope in one part of it. And studying the Lamentations, some scholars say, plums the depths of human misery. But in the middle of those depths is chapter 3, some hope. Chapter 3 focuses on the individual. Verse 1, it says, I am the man who's seen affliction by the rod of his wrath. He has led me and made me to walk in darkness, not in light. Surely he's turned his hand against me, time and again, throughout the day. With that established, if you'll look to verse 20, there are some verses that acknowledge the sadness, but also look to God's lifting up. It says, my soul still remembers and sinks within me. This I recall to my mind, therefore I have hope. Through the Lord's mercies we're not consumed, because his compassion fails not. They are new every morning. Great is your faithfulness. I love that it reminds me of one of those nights where you can't sleep because you're so upset. The sun is going to rise, and there's something about the start of a new day. God's mercies are new every morning. There's a new hope, even when you feel like you don't have hope. Verse 24 says, the Lord is my portion, says my soul, therefore I hope in him. The Lord is good to those who wait for him, to the soul that seeks him. It's good that one should hope and wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord. It's good for a man to bear the yoke in his youth. In other words, it's good that you suffer somewhat in your youth. Let him sit alone and keep silent, because God has laid it on him. Let him put his mouth in the dust. There may yet be hope. There may yet be hope, no matter how bad it is. There may yet be hope, even when we're devastated. And whether or not we brought it on ourselves, our Heavenly Father still wants to comfort us. Just like when a little child is really upset, because Daddy's not going to let him do something that he really wants to do. And he's crying and saying, I'm upset, I'm sad. Perhaps Daddy can't make him understand that what he wants to do really isn't his best interest for him. But Daddy still wants to comfort. And I'm reminded, we didn't plan this, but when Mr. Creech was giving a sermonette, I thought some of these ideas mesh together pretty well. I was actually a little afraid he was going to mesh more than I wanted to, but it worked out pretty well. God wants to comfort us. Let's turn to 2 Corinthians and look at some of this. 2 Corinthians 1, we'll begin in verse 3.

2 Corinthians 1, verse 3, I like to think of this as one of God's titles or names. He is the 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. For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also abounds through Christ. It's easy to forget that, but we need to remember it at those times. I'm going to turn also to John 14. I'd emphasize this more, except that the New King James translation uses a different word than the old, which I liked.

Because, of course, in John, the Gospel of John, starting in verse 13 all the way through 17, it describes that last Passover that Christ kept during his earthly ministry with the disciples. And he explained and taught them a lot of things before he was going to be taken away from them. One of the most important was the role of the Holy Spirit. And we see in verse 16, he says, I believe the Greek there is paraclete. But in the Old King James, it says, If we drop down to verse 26, He gives to you, to me.

I think it's interesting at the end of that verse, it says, There are times when we're going through a tragedy when our heart is troubled. We might not be afraid. We might not even be lacking the understanding.

But we're troubled. We're suffering and aching.

But God's Spirit in us can help. It does help.

And I'm saying this, as I said, again, more of a reminder, because I think many of us have experienced that.

Sometimes in greater degrees than others, but we face it in life. And that's one of the things that helps us to encourage and lift up others when they go through it.

I've read some of my favorite scriptures on this subject already. If you don't mind, I want to turn to Psalms 27.

I think this is something I try to instill in the students at Ambassador, and I don't always remember to, but I talk about having some go-to scriptures to help through difficult times or for certain periods in your life. And I'm using some of the ones for me when I've been in tough, difficult times.

And this is one of them. Psalm 27, and I've heard this put to song very well, but I want to try to read it at a slower pace. The Lord, the Eternal, is my light and my salvation. Whom shall I fear? Yeah, nothing else can come close. The Lord is the strength of my life. Of whom shall I be afraid? When the wicked came against me to eat up my flesh, my enemies and my foes, they stumbled and fell.

Though an army may encamp against me, my heart will not fear. Though war may rise against me, in this I am confident. In the midst of all our troubles and difficulties, this we can be confident of. One thing I've desired of the Eternal, that I'll seek, that I may dwell in the house of the Eternal. This isn't talking about going to heaven. It's talking about being in the family of God, begotten by Him.

And right now, amongst God's people, which is the spiritual temple, you could say, we are dwelling in the house of the Lord. All the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in His temple.

For in the time of trouble, He'll hide me in His pavilion. In the secret place of His tabernacle, He will hide me. And He shall set me high upon a rock. That's a promise to us, I believe. We're, in a sense, as I said, spiritually in that tabernacle, and God promises to hide us and help us.

In verse 6, Now my head will be lifted up above my enemies, all around me. Therefore I offer sacrifices of joy in His tabernacle. I'll sing, yes, I'll sing praises to the Eternal. Here, O Lord, when I cry with my voice, have mercy also upon me, and answer me. Of course, it goes to show, even with confidence, and that God will hear and take care of us, we cry out to Him here.

When You said, Seek my face, my heart said to You, Your face, Lord, I will seek. God said, Seek me, I'll take care of You. Okay, I'll do it. Do not hide Your face from me. Do not turn Your servant away in anger. You have been my help. Do not leave me nor forsake me, O God, of my salvation. When my father and mother forsake me, then the Eternal will take care of me. One of the reasons Psalm 27 has meant so much to me is, you know, I became separated from my parents at a relatively young age, but this reminded me I wasn't on my own.

Never. I had a Father in Heaven, and all of us do. Teach me Your ways, O Eternal. Lead me in a smooth path because of my enemies. Do not deliver me to the will of my adversaries, for false witnesses have risen against me, such as breathe out violence. I would have lost heart, unless I had believed, that I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.

That's a phrase all of us could say. I would have lost heart, unless I believed. But we do believe, and we're given belief through His Spirit. Wait on the Eternal. Be of good courage. He shall strengthen your heart. Wait, I say, on the Eternal. These words don't just make grief or sorrow disappear, but they can make it easier to cope, I think. We know that suffering in the world doesn't mean that there is no God, but rather we realize that God's plan and purpose requires that such suffering be possible.

At the same time, we're encouraged by knowing that God has a plan that's going to put an end to it, that it's not forever and it's not without purpose. For those of us that know God now, we know that He's going to bring an end, not only to our sorrow and suffering, but to that of the entire world. But in the meantime, we suffer. We hurt. We mourn. And we call out to our Heavenly Father at times like this. And it's worth saying we don't have to pretend that we're not suffering.

He knows anyways. And we might say, as I said, Connor has to me, deep down, talk to the Father and say, I'm sad. I'm hurting. Our God is the God of all comfort. He's there for us. His Spirit is the Comforter. His words promise relief in due time. Therefore, it behooves us to do what it says here at the end of Psalms 27.

Wait on the Lord. Be of good courage and He'll strengthen your heart. Wait, I say, on the Lord.