HOLY GHOST COMFORT

We will never know God’s peace in our time of affliction until His purpose for it has become a settled truth in our souls. We have to understand that our dark hour, our painful testing, has been permitted by the Lord for His own glorious purpose. What is that purpose? Simply put, we are going to be the focus of incredible Holy Ghost comfort.

We are going to come out of the fire cleansed and stronger. And we’ll be given a ministry that is greater even than that of the world’s most famous preachers—the ministry of proven comfort and victory for a hurting people. The result of this ministry will be as Daniel described: “Many shall be purified, and made white, and tried; but the wicked shall do wickedly: and none of the wicked shall understand; but the wise shall understand” (Daniel 12:10).

What an incredible calling we have! We suffer great trials in order to become God’s comforting hands to others.

My daughter Debi and her husband Roger lost their twelve-year-old daughter, Tiffany, to brain cancer. I know the agony they went through, the nights of wondering, “What possible purpose could God have in this?”

Some time ago, Debi was in a mall when she saw a woman sitting on a bench with tears streaming down her face. Debi approached her and asked, “Can I help you at all?” The woman responded, “You could never understand what I’m going through.” Finally, Debi coaxed the woman to tell her about her pain. The woman explained, “I’ve lost a child to cancer.”

At that moment, the sweetness of heaven descended. Debi put comforting arms around that woman, and as my daughter shared her own story, both women found a measure of God’s healing love.

Dear saint, God has not forgotten you in your deep, dark trial. I leave you with this encouragement from the Psalmist: “The righteous cry, and the Lord heareth, and delivereth them out of all their troubles. The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit.  Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the Lord delivereth him out of them all” (Psalm 34:17-19).