Friend: Okay, you’re suggesting that a parent who has just lost a baby needs to visualize that child in the arms of Christ and reread a spiritual experience of a 19th Century evangelist to seek solace in the midst of her grief. [See the previous post.] My question to you is this: do you really think this can make a difference in the lives of these parents, given the enormity of the grief they have to deal with? I’m trying to be completely realistic about this. People in a situation like that are in enormous pain, more pain than you’ve probably ever been in. What makes you think that what you are suggesting can really make a difference?
Mark: Well, something has to and I believe that what I have suggested will, in fact, bring some relief and comfort. But whether it is what I have suggested or something else, something has to work in this situation.
Friend: What do you mean that “something has to work?” God allows these situations to happen (and we haven’t even opened that particular can of worms yet). How do you know that there really is anything more that you can do other than just tough it out and suffer through it? If God allows it, what makes you think there is some kind of magic promise that will make some of the pain go away?
Mark: Actually, I think there is a supernatural promise that will make some of the pain go away. I think it’s an amazing promise and I think it’s something that is almost entirely overlooked these days. Paul says that God is the “God of all comfort.” (2 Cor. 1:3) He didn’t say that God was the source of some comfort, He said that God is the God of all comfort. He goes on to say that God “comforts us in all our affliction so that we will be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.” (v. 4)
So there you have it. Paul suffered. He experienced “afflictions.” But in the midst of that He also experienced God’s comfort, and he experienced in such a way that he was able to share what happened to him so that others could be comforted in their trials.
So the challenge before us when we face these difficult situations is very clear. Is what Paul had to say a bunch of empty words, or are these divinely inspired, God breathed words? [1] If these are God’s own words then there has to be supernatural comfort available to me. I can’t say that my situation is too horrible for there to be any real help for me because this is comfort that comes from an infinitely powerful, all wise being.
So we have to start here. Something horrible has happened to me. But God is with me. He has promised to comfort me. So I have to fight the good fight of faith in order to receive my comfort from God.
Friend: So how do you “fight the good fight of faith” in a situation like this?
Mark: I would do just what I suggested in our last conversation. I would try and meet every encounter with grief with a faith focused thought of some sort. What I have suggested should work, but it might very well be that God will send some other person into your life with a different insight for you to meditate on that will be of even more help to you. In fact, I would be on the lookout for believers who have been through tough times and if they tried to share anything that was a help to them, I would keep my heart wide open to receive that. Paul says that we can share the comfort we have received with others.[2] But it is a fight of faith. It’s not going to be easy.
Friend: So that’s it? A mind game? A psychological technique?
Mark: There are similarities, but it is far more than a psychological technique. You are not just limited to the resources of your own little brain. Our focus is God. Our hope of comfort is from God. We should fight the good fight of faith with the expectation that something supernatural will happen. We are expecting God Himself to give us comfort.
Now there may be times when you are so overwhelmed that you can’t fight back at that moment. I am suggesting that you respond in faith to your grief as often as you can, but I also understand that people might be going through something so deep, so overwhelming, that it temporarily paralyzes your whole inner being with pain and grief. But as you can you need to respond in faith with whatever strength you have in that moment.
Let me give you an example. Twice in my life I have been severely injured by other people. These were emotional hurts, not physical pains. In both cases I had to fight the good fight of faith to keep bitterness from gaining a foothold in my life. If you’ve ever been hurt like this you know what I’m talking about. You are minding your own business and all of a sudden the face of the person who hurt you comes to mind. Your whole body tenses up. You want to reach out and strike them, or at least find the most hate filled words you can and hurl them against that person. You can literally find yourself shaking with rage and if you don’t fight back against it. If you don’t challenge it bitterness and hatred can sink deep roots in the soil of your heart and poison your soul.
I fought my fight of faith by literally applying something that Jesus said. “Pray for those who persecute you.” (Matthew 5:44) Every time I felt the rage begin to grow I prayed for those people. I must have prayed for them hundreds, if not thousands of times over a three or four month period. And from time to time, when I think back on those dark days, I still pray for them. And I have to tell you, it worked. I don’t hate those people. I love them. But the only reason that is possible is because I fought that good fight of faith.
Friend: That doesn’t sound like a quick and easy solution.
Mark: No, it doesn’t. There is a reason why it is referred to a “fight” of faith.[3] I can promise you this much, the longer you fight any give battle, the easier it gets, and the more blessing and comfort you receive.
[1] 2 Timothy 3:15 says that “All Scripture is inspired by God.” The Greek language translated “inspired by God” can be literally translated “God breathed.” Speech is produced when your breath passes over your vibrating vocal cords. Paul is saying that even though men wrote the Bible, it is just as much God’s own words as it would be if God had audibly spoken it.
[2] If this blog is ministering to you in a meaningful way then you need to be on the lookout for people who are going through the same kind of trouble that you are experiencing, and then you need to direct them to the website.
[3] “Fight the good fight of faith.” 1 Timothy 6:12
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