“Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself and God our Father, who has loved us and given us eternal comfort and good hope by grace, comfort and strengthen your hearts in every good work and word.” 2 Thessalonians 2:16-17
It’s there.
Can you feel it?
Right beyond the frayed hem of the tangible... where faith plucks from the unseen that fruit which nourishes the soul – He dwells there, His goodness waiting to be tasted. Closer than the fear that mocks His kindness, closer than the darkness that seduces us to doubt, He is there. Having already loved us and given to us eternal hope, He is ever still that wellspring of comfort, enfolding us in unseen arms and buoying us up by His unseen strength.
Do you believe it, friend? Harness your will and bend it into that faith, His faith, that unlocked the heart of heaven. Our believing becomes as a sweet aroma to our Lord, a pleasing sacrifice on the altar of our blistering circumstances. And yet, like that old bush Moses stumbled upon in the desert, though aflame with scorching heat, our hope is not consumed. We are drawn aside in wonder, and from the center of the flame the word of our Father comes forth, drawing from the very bosom of impossibility, our destiny.
“…When you walk through the fire,
you will not be scorched,
Nor will the flame burn you.
For I am the Lord your God,
The Holy One of Israel, your Savior…”
Isaiah 43:2-3
He meets us there – in the fury of fire’s tongue, when our faith defies the obvious. Like those three brave men of Israel cast into the furnace, unwilling to bow before the rage and arrogance of an ancient foe in the skin of a king. It is there we find our Lord to be Emmanuel – God with us. He takes the force of the inferno and wields it to burn away our bonds, so we emerge as a freed people, free to love our Lord without restraint. And through the triumph of His grace in our lives, our enemies must confess His beauty and supremacy.
Will you believe? Will you cling to the truth of what He has already done and let it labor in you until that truth is birthed into reality? Will you hold on through the night until Jesus Christ warms your horizon? The eternal comfort He offers is no more or less than His very Self. Unto our need, unto our anguish, unto our fears, disappointments and loss, He gives His very Essence – LIFE! He is our Comforter. It is not just the knowledge of what He has done that brings comfort, though that would be more than enough. It is that He Himself is the comfort. Our precious, humble King, walking with us through the fire, bringing us forth as gold.