The God Of All Comfort

Probably most of you are familiar with the old commercials “Got Milk?” which showcases various people with white milk-mustaches on their faces.

But “Peace” is a lot harder to come by sometimes, isn’t it?  You can’t just open your refrigerator, grab a carton and have peace come pouring out.

There’s only one way to get peace – and that’s to attach yourself to God and His Word.

When my husband Gary and I moved to Texas about 6 years ago for his job, it didn’t take long for us to realize that I needed to find a job somewhere.

The problem:  I had no clue where to start.  The DFW area is HUGE.

But God knew.

Hear my cry, O God; listen to my prayer.  From the ends of the earth I call to you, I call as my heart grows faint; lead me to the rock that is higher than I.  [Psalm 61:1-2 NIV]

We were attending a small church at that time, and I had emailed a new friend to ask her to pray that God would open a door somewhere for a job.  God’s timing is everything, and the next thing I knew I had a job at the same place she worked – a non-profit association in Dallas.

I had done sales and other secretarial-type jobs in the past, so it didn’t seem like a big deal to become entrenched in the membership department of this association.

However it definitely opened a whole new world for me, and I soon learned that exhibiting at trade shows was a part of how they obtained some of their new memberships.

After a little over a year they decided to send me to attend a large trade show in Orlando to represent the association and drum up possible membership connections.  Of course that meant I’d have to explain to people stopping by our booth exactly what our association did, and why they really needed to join.

The problem?  I really didn’t have a clue about what I was supposed to say!  My job had pretty much been on the computer, and although I knew bits and pieces, I had no concept of how to approach a person to explain all of what we did.

But as I prayed in the weeks approaching my trip, the Lord kept bringing me verses to give me peace.

He reminded me that He’ll take care of all of my needs (Philippians 4:19); that He’s my helper (Hebrews 13:6); that I need not fear (Psalm 27:1); and that He’ll give me the strength (Isaiah 41:10).

When the day came to board the plane for Orlando, I knew the Lord was with me; and strangely enough I felt like things might be okay.

While on the flight, I started to focus on Colossians 4:6, which talks about how our words should be always be full of grace and seasoned with salt.

Then I started to pray:

Lord, please give me wisdom on how I ought to answer every person I meet while I’m there.  May I be so sensitive to their needs of the moment that my words will edify, encourage and heal.  May they be filled with Your grace.  Make me aware of opportunities to show compassion, courtesy and graciousness.

And I did it!  Yes, I admit my stress level was over the top at times, yet I was able to find the correct shuttle buses back and forth to the convention center, and even was able to help a few people understand what our association was known for!  (Notice I said “few”.)

As I boarded the plane to head back home I really was amazed at how much peace I had during the whole couple of days in spite of everything, and couldn’t help but note verses of praise:

“Sing to the LORD a new song, for he has done marvelous things…” [Psalm 98:1 NIV]

“I prayed to the LORD, and answered me.  He freed me from all my fears.” [Psalm 34:4 NLT]

“The angel of the LORD encamps around those who fear Him, he and delivers them.” [Psalm 34:7 NIV]

We tend to really work ourselves up about stuff, don’t we?  I know I do.  But for us who know Jesus, we really do have Peace available to us at every moment.

And you don’t even have to go to your refrigerator to get it!