The Spirit Of Comfort And Peace

The Spirit of Comfort and Peace

Read: John 14:16-18

“You know him, for he lives with you and will be in you.”

John 14:17

“The world can create trouble in peace, but God can create peace in trouble.”

—Thomas Watson

IN WORD When we base our contentment on our circumstances, we find that our lives have a way of repeating a cycle; we go through periods of peace punctuated by periods of turmoil. We enjoy the equilibrium, but we often become quite unsettled when the storms of life hit.

Jesus spoke to His disciples as a storm began to swell around Him. He knew their world would be rocked. He knew that the very next day after He spoke to His disciples about the Holy Spirit, their vision of helping the Messiah establish His earthly kingdom would die. Everything they had invested their lives in for the last three years would collapse in front of their very eyes. And this is what He told them as this storm began to blow: “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. . . . Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid” (John 14:27).

Jesus speaks often in John 14–16 about the Holy Spirit’s comforting purpose. Where many translations use “Counselor,” others use “Comforter.” Both are appropriate. The word can be translated as either one; the Spirit is a comforting Counselor who promises us peace, and He is a counseling Comforter who promises to relieve our fears.

IN DEED When we are unsettled, we ask a lot of “why” questions. “Why did this happen to me?” “Why does God seem so absent?” “Why doesn’t God do something?” During these times, we must remember the promise of the Holy Spirit, a promise from a sovereign God who is “an ever-present help in trouble” (Psalm 46:1). Faith will make His presence—with all of His peace and comfort—real to us.

But what if this same Spirit lives within us? Not only will we have comfort and peace, we will minister to others in their trials. We will be comforting counselors and/or counseling comforters. We will represent “the God of all comfort” (2 Corinthians 1:3) as He ministers through us.