Devotion 23

{WELCOME}

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My grandson just turned 4 last Sunday and started to preschool on Monday, after having spent the summer with me. Monday night he fell in the tub and hit his chin on the faucet. My daughter wrapped her crying child in a towel and held him until he calmed down, then he sniffed and asked, "Mommy, do I have to go to school tomorrow?"
  "Yes," she answered.
  "I don't want to go to school, I want to go to Meme's," he said.
  She said, "I thought you liked school."
  "I do," he said, "but I'm hurt and I need to go to Meme's."

Just as a child needs to be comforted when they are hurt, Christians go through times when they need comforting. Sometimes friends and loved ones can comfort us and sometimes we need comfort that only comes from God's Holy Spirit.

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Genesis 37:34 "And Jacob rent his clothes, and put sackcloth upon his loins, and mourned for his son many days. 35 And all his sons and all his daughters rose up to comfort him; but he refused to be comforted; and he said, For I will go down into the grave unto my son mourning. Thus his father wept for him."

II Samuel 12:15 "And Nathan departed unto his house. And the LORD struck the child that Uriah's wife bare unto David, and it was very sick. 16 David therefore besought God for the child; and David fasted, and went in, and lay all night upon the earth. 17 And the elders of his house arose, and went to him, to raise him up from the earth: but he would not, neither did he eat bread with them."

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When Jacob's sons came and told him Joseph was surely slain by a beast, he refused to be comforted by his other children but I'm sure he turned to God for comfort. I can't imagine losing a child and not knowing God; not having him to turn to. When David's infant son was stricken sick by the Lord, he fasted and prayed and refused the comfort of the elders of his house. Yet in Psalms 23:4 he says, "Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me."

I Kings 19:3 "And when he saw that, he arose, and went for his life, and came to Beersheba, which belongeth to Judah, and left his servant there. 4 But he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a juniper tree: and he requested for himself that he might die; and said, It is enough; now, O LORD, take away my life;"

When Elijah thought Jezebel was going to have him killed, he was so depressed he sat down under a juniper tree and wanted to die. Jonah did the same thing in Jonah 4:3. He became so angry that the Lord was going to spare the city after he had predicted God would destroy it, he asked Him to just take his life. Depression is a terrible state of mind and many things can set it off. We can become depressed after losing a loved one, after being rejected by someone we care about, from being made fun of or mocked by others, from losing a job or a promotion, from being alone, from illness and even from not liking our surroundings or the situation we live in. Whether you are depressed because of these or other reasons or from just falling down, God will pick you up and comfort you. There are many things we can turn to for comfort like alcohol, drugs, sleep, sex or even food but these things just make our situation worse! When my grandson fell in the tub, he knew he needed comfort and he asked for it. If we run to God for comfort when we are hurting as a small child runs to his parents (or granparents), He will scoop us up and wrap us in his warm loving arms. Don't be afraid to go to your Father for help when you are down. He always welcomes His children with love!

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[GOD BLESS]
I hope you all have a great week. Just remember, when you get stressed out from your daily life or weighted down by cares, turn to Jesus for the comfort you need. He is waiting there in the shadows with His arms outstretched.

LOVE, MEME