Welcome to the Femina Podcast. This is Nancy Wilson. Thanks so much for joining me today.

The topic today is a good one. It's comfort. When we're sick or in pain or lonely or in any

affliction, the thing we want is comfort. Of course, we want

healing and deliverance and sometimes a good hot dinner too. But in the meantime, while we wait,

we're looking for comfort. Comfort is a verb and a noun. The verb means to give strength and hope,

to cheer, to ease the grief or trouble, to console. And the noun comfort means strengthening

aid, assistance, support, a feeling of relief and well-being. All these things are good, and we all need comfort different times,

sometimes more than others, obviously. A Christian who does need comfort must do two things.

Look to Almighty God, of course, first thing for comfort. While humbly receiving the comfort extended by those who offer it,

there will be people, Lord willing, who rally round and extend comfort to you. In other words,

we must first set our eyes on Jesus for our comfort and we shouldn't look first to our friends and relatives to have the power that

only God has. At the same time, we must recognize and be grateful for those Christians who set about

to comfort us. They have received comfort themselves so they can be a source of true encouragement to

others. There's a whole lot about comfort in

2 Corinthians. And Paul says this in the first chapter, verses 3 and 4. Bless be the God and

Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of Mercies and the God of all comfort, who comforts us

in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort

those who are in any trouble with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.

God is a fountainhead of every comfort, the source of all mercy. He is the one we should turn to

immediately in every trial or tribulation.

He is the supernatural comfort that we so long for.

When we turn to him, the God of all comfort, we will receive it.

...