Praise the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and the God of all comfort. 2 Corinthians 1:3 HCSB

It’s the opening lyric of one of the world’s most famous pieces of music: “‘Comfort, comfort my people,’ says your God.”

George Frideric Handel’s Messiah quoted the Bible book of Isaiah that was written to a people who were far from home. God’s message to Isaiah for His people continued: “Speak tenderly to Jerusalem. Tell her her sad days are gone and her sins are pardoned” (Isaiah 40:2). Taken captive by a conquering empire, the people needed a message of encouragement and a promise of deliverance, just as we do because sometimes this world feels like anything but home to us.

Marlena Graves writes, “In this no-hope-possible context, they experienced an inbreaking of God’s grace. ‘Comfort,’ the prophet cried—a Hebrew word with connotations of courage and strength. His message was something akin to ‘Be comforted and have hope! This is not the end.'”[1]

Wherever you are today, whatever you are facing, there is comfort available to you. The intimately personal God of the Bible recognizes, and longs to meet your need for reassurance and for forgiveness. “Praise the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and the God of all comfort,” scripture declares. “He comforts us in all our afflictions” and “He forgives all [our] sins. (2 Corinthians 1: 3,4 HCSB, Psalm 103:3).

Perhaps you don’t know God as the God of all comfort. When the men who would become Jesus’s own disciples wanted to know Him, He said to them, “Come and see” (John 1:39). You can come to Him and be comforted today.

[1] Graves, Marlena. “A Path Through the Wilderness.” The Promised One: Advent Readings from Christianity Today 2022, Christianity Today, 2022, pp. 10–11.