The Comforter
The Comforter
Trisha Garner
In the book of Lamentations, I was recently reading of Jeremiah lamenting (lament in the Bible means: to mourn; to grieve; to weep or wail; to express sorrow) over the consequences the Jewish people were suffering because they chose not to obey the Word of the Lord. I was captivated by Lam. 1:9 where Jeremiah says “she had no comforter” and again in he states, “For these things I weep: mine eye, mine eye runneth down with water, because the comforter that should relieve my soul is far from me; my children are desolate, because the enemy prevailed.”(Lam. 1:16) His lament is so great that he says “mine eye, mine eye runneth down like water”.
Has this ever happened to you? Have you ever been in so much sorrow because of something you have done that the tears are falling like running water? Have you ever felt like there was a great distance between you and the Lord? I know I have. I have gone before the Lord and wept, mourned, grieved, expressed sorrow like Jeremiah because I began feeling the consequences of my disobedience. I heard a preacher say one time “You can choose your sin but you can’t choose your consequences”. The older I have gotten I have found that to be so true.
I have laid in bed at night full of regret and shame. But, I have never, ever felt the real sorrow of having the Comforter far from me.
Your Heavenly Father loves you and me so much that He said “And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you forever.” (John 14:16) “Also, I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you.” (John 14:18) Jesus came to this earth to die for us but He also returned to heaven for us. Jesus says “Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you.” (John 16:7) He says also “Peace I leave with you, MY peace I GIVE unto you.” (John 14:27) We have an Omnipresent Comforter that never leaves us hopeless because He left us HIS peace.
The devil likes to deceive us into thinking that when we sin and do not obey the Word of the Lord that the Comforter is far from us.
So, let us look for a moment at two different women in the Bible. First, the Woman with the issue of blood. The Bible does not say that she had this issue as a consequence of sin. Just that she had this condition for twelve years, spent all her money and nothing had helped. She heard of Jesus and knew that if she could get through the press and touch the hem of his garment, she would be healed (Mark 5:27-28). She fights through this crowd of people thronging him (Mark 6:31) and reaches down to the hem of his garment. Instantly she is healed. Secondly, let’s look at the Woman at the well. Jesus says in John that He needed to go through Samaria (John 4:4) and then sent the disciples away to buy food (John 4:8). Here He is alone with this woman who has also heard of Jesus but we soon find out lives a life of sin. Her condition was self-inflicted. She was choosing the sin she was living in yet the Creator of the Universe went out of His way to have a one-on-one meeting with her to tell her about Living Water so she could also instantly be changed. Isn’t that amazing!! The Devil tries to deceive us into believing the exact opposite. He wants you and I to think that when we sin the Lord is so far from us and we have to fight our way through a crowd of people just to crawl on our knees to touch the hem of his garment. But, that’s not the case at all.
Friend, Jesus loves you so much that He left us the Comforter that will never leave you or forsake you and is just waiting with outstretched arms for a one-on-one with you.
While we may understand Jeremiah’s lament. We will never understand his loneliness.