11th October 2014

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God’s Comfort

“And our hope for you is firm, because we know that just as you share in our sufferings, so also you share in our comfort.”
2 Corinthians 1:7 (NIV)

A few months ago I was at a traditional music festival and I fell into conversation with a lady I had met there a number of times in previous years. For some reason the fact that I was a Christian came up and she said something that really threw me. She told me that she used to be a Christian but had stopped on 24th June 2009 (not the real date) and that the reason for this was it was the day her beautiful 19 year old daughter was killed in a car accident. It was an awful tragedy and my heart went out to her as her pain was clearly still very acute.

But this set me to thinking and finally I concluded that she was very wrong. She had been a Christian for many years and during that time she was no doubt aware of other people losing their children tragically, and she still had faith. She knew about the holocaust, and she still had faith. She knew of famines and earthquakes and wars, and she still had faith. In other words she could accept tragedy in other people’s lives and still have faith, but she could not accept tragedy in hers.

I have suffered tragedy in my life but not losing a child.  It is a pain I can’t even begin to imagine so I do not presume to know how I would react in the same circumstances. But it would be a mistake to think that God is just for me and if my life is no good then God is no good—that it is ok that others suffer but not that I do. This is a very hard thing to accept and I acknowledge that. No-one’s life is without suffering and pain, but if we lose our connection to God we lose our connection to his comfort too and the hope we have in him—that is what we must cling to.

Prayer
Lord, help me to bear the sufferings that life heaps on my head and still have the hope and love I have in you as my guide. Comfort me.
Amen

Study by Jenny Baldwin

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Jenny BaldwinAbout the Author:
Jenny Baldwin attends the Edinburgh Congregation of the Worldwide Church of God UK.

Local Congregation:
Worldwide Church of God Edinburgh
Gilmerton New Church
Ravenscroft Street
EDINBURGH
EH17 8QJ

Meeting time:
Saturday 11:00am

Local Congregational Contact:
 Peter Mill
Phone: 01506-845725
Email: peter_mill@wcg.org.uk

0 thoughts on “11th October 2014”

  • John Rodgers says:

    Hello Jenny
    Thank you for your article for day by day. Unfortunately this is fairly common where people lose their faith when a son or daughter dies.
    Usually they are people who have gone to church most of their lives and because of this they feel that they are Christian. When their faith gets tested ,the first one who gets blamed is God. This is because they have not studied Gods word for themselves. Faith comes from hearing or studying the Bible Rom 10:17.
    We should keep a close relationship with God and He will carry us through if tragedy strikes. John

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