When the God of comfort draws near

Merry Christmas season, friends! I hope the wonder of advent brings you closer to our Savior.

In my last two posts, I related how we can experience God’s presence through the intentional act of noticing what’s in the world around us, as well as through the practice of deliberate listening. We can experience the Trinity through prayer, reading our Bible, in nature, or hearing the laugh of a child.

Most recently, I believe my most vivid encounters with the Holy Spirit have occurred through the loving presence of other believers. God has revealed to me – in ways I can hardly describe – how He uses His believers as vessels of His great love for us.

What a sacred experience it is when we celebrate the joys of those around us and fully embrace and uphold these special moments in the lives of those dear to us. Perhaps an even more sacred experience occurs when we sit with one another when grief, sorrow, or despair pass through our lives.

When a believer lends us a hand, sits and offers a compassionate ear, or just chooses to be present with us, something Holy occurs and it can irrevocably change our heart. When we share our deepest delights or the fears we often tuck deep into our soul, and these are met with a compassionate witness, God becomes nearer.

2 Corinthians 3-4 (NIV) states, “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.”

I have envisioned what it would be like to be with Jesus, marveling in His presence. While we are still outside of the gates of eternity, Jesus is Emmanuel. He is God with us, and maybe just maybe, we will see Him more clearly through the loving kindness we experience in His community.

We know the Christmas season can carry an undercurrent of the deepest feelings of our heart. Some of us wait with great excitement and expectation, others of us may be feeling angst or restlessness. We may enter our churches bursting with anticipation or with a sinking feeling we cannot seem to shake.

Let me encourage you that no matter the emotion, enter the building. Surround yourself with other believers where God can become more fully present through the words, actions, and hope that occurs in these spaces. It is my prayer we allow ourselves to be filled with God’s love so that we may go out into the world and share the same.