“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 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.” 2 Corinthians 1:3-4

Yesterday was the six-month anniversary of the most devastating day of my life. Interestingly enough, the day coincided with my completion of the Critical Incident Stress Management Foundation’s certification course on Grief after Trauma.

But even without the certification, God’s given me numerous occasions over the past several months to minister to others struggling with similar challenges. I can’t stress enough the powerful promise presented in this piece of scripture.

Over the last several months, the truly extraordinary thing is that mingled in with my deepest hurt, I have felt an intimacy with God I somehow knew existed but had never had privilege of understanding. With it comes a sense of brokenness and dependence on God that, in turn, allows God to truly show himself strong on your behalf (2 Chronicles 16:9 [first half]).

Looking back, I know that God allowed me to go through that season of brokenness to build my character and prepare me for the ministry has for me today. Not a day goes by where I’m not overtaken by an overwhelming sense of gratitude for what God has done and is doing now in my life.

If you are struggling today, trust in God’s comfort. Engage Him and lay your cares at his feet, for He is faithful. (Jeremiah 29:11)

“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 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.” 2 Corinthians 1:3-4

When I was in the School of Evangelism, I learned that you can’t really worship someone you don’t know. For that reason, all worship leaders were required to compile a list of “100 Attributes of God” before being allowed to lead the school in worship during morning devotionals. I have to admit that before writing that list, I never really thought much about who God is.

I remember sitting in front of an excel spreadsheet and just typing out words: “good, great, awesome, faithful, holy, righteous, loving, gracious, merciful…” I didn’t dig very deep at all. That was my first semester.

Second semester students were required to compile a list of 200 attributes. This time around, I wanted to really pour myself into it. Rather than just writing whatever words came to mind, I decided to be very specific about who God is in my life. “God provides for me when I’m $65,000 in debt, have no steady job, and have tuition due and don’t know how I’m going to pay it.” (amazingly he did) “God gives me peace that is beyond my understanding when circumstances should cause me to be anxious.”

Who is God?

Well, here in this scripture, we see that he is the “Father of Mercies” and “God of All Comfort”

Let’s focus today on “Father of Mercies”

I’m very confident in saying that living with a “mercy mindset” is CRITICAL to every Christian walk. The apostle Paul emphasized this throughout the first half of his epistle to the Romans.

When you shine a flashlight in a dark room, the light reveals the things hiding in the shadows. The Word of God is the same way. The more I read the Bible, the more I understand how wretched and sinful I am. I realize how hopeless my condition would be without God.

The concept of “religion” in itself is man’s attempts at achieving holiness or enlightenment or favor with God. But think about this fact: if you are imperfect, what can you possibly offer a perfect God?

The answer is nothing.

Have I ever told I lie? Yes, so that makes me a liar. Have I ever stolen anything? Yes, so that makes me a thief. What this boils down to is that I am a sinner.

God is very clear on the consequences of sin: For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 6:23

I deserve death. In God’s economy, sin is sin. Whether I steal a pencil, or murder someone, it’s all the same. Sin deserves death.

What blows me away is that even though God is justified in destroying me for my shortcomings, he chooses to show mercy toward me and love me.

And more than that, in my own life as a leader in ministry, I’m reminded every day of his mercy toward me. I have no right to be leading people or teaching people the Bible or listening to their problems. I’m so unworthy of it, but by God’s mercy and grace (which is different) he allows me to be a minister to others.

Today, I would encourage you to reflect on your life. How has God shown mercy in your life?

In recognizing His goodness, we naturally are compelled to a spirit or repentance (Romans 2:4). And with a repentant heart, God is able to do great and marvelous things.

“Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you are disqualified.” 2 Corinthians 13:5

This past Sunday, I was in the usher’s closet at church and I saw a bumper sticker on the front of a metal cabinet that I’d never noticed before. It said,

“If you were accused of being a Christian, would there be enough evidence to prove it?”

I’ll tell you one thing, I’d probably never be accused of being a Christian when I’m driving! That’s a weak point for me.

Anyway, I’ve been chewing on that all week, and I started recognizing areas in my life that could definitely use some work.

How ’bout you? Which of these verses best describes you? Galatians 5:19-21 or Galatians 5:22-25

If you tend toward the former rather than the latter, there IS hope! Paul exhorts us in the second half of today’s verse:

“Do you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?”

Paul is alluding to something he mentions earlier in this epistle:

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.” 2 Corinthians 5:17

Some of you are probably thinking, “Okay, so why am I still the way I am?”

The truth is that we don’t all mature as Christians at the same rate. I know of some people who were drug addicts one day, then committed their lives to the Lord and never did drugs again. When I became a Christian, I all of a sudden, without really thinking about it, stopped cussing. Certain things stopped being appealing to me. There are other things (like driving) that I still struggle with.

The truth is that we’re human. We WILL make mistakes. In Galatians 5, Paul encourages us to walk in the Spirit. You can’t tell me you’ve been walking your entire life and have never slipped and fallen before. The point is to keep walking. I gave up a ton of times in college thinking that it was ME who needed to change. It wasn’t until I understood that it was the other way around that I really started to grow in my relationship with Jesus.

Let me leave you with this encouragement from Paul’s epistle to the Philippians:

“being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ” Philippians 2:6

HE does the work. Just be willing and available and let Him work. YOU are the only thing that can limit God’s work in your life.