The God of all Comfort

You can tell what kind of mood I'm in by looking at what music I'm listening to.  I guess that's true of all of us.  For me, if you hear me listening to James Taylor, it's a safe bet that I'm feeling sad or depressed or in need of comfort.  And that is what I'm listening to right now.

I have cabin fever....am extremely bored...and am, maybe, feeling sorry for myself.  I'm beginning to fear that my ankle will forever be painful...and that I will have to use the wheelchair or the knee walker from now on. 

Oh gosh now Art Garfunkel is singing "Bridge over Troubled Water"  I have a history with this song too.  When I was in High School I had some health problems and was in Columbia Presbyterian hospital in NYC....alone, frightened and sad.  One of my good friends gave me a tape for my Walkman of James Taylor's Greatest Hits and on the other side was the Eagles Greatest Hits. 

And while going through this ordeal another friend told me that he was my bridge for whenever I needed to cross some troubled water.  And he wrote down the lyrics for the song in a card to me.  And these songs comforted my heart....and even now, 35 years later, I still turn to these songs when I'm going through emotional turmoil. 

Is it wrong to accept comfort from anyone other than the Lord?  Do you know the verse which called God "the God of all Comfort"?  It just occurred to me today that that might mean that from whatever source a child of God finds comfort, that comfort is from God and God is in it and caring for them in the midst of trouble of any kind.  (Now obviously this does not mean that drugs, alcohol or other addictive behaviors qualify for being comfort from God.  Rather they are snares sent by the evil one to snag, entice and destroy  the faith, health and life of the believer who has indulged in this type of unhealthy behavior.) 

That means that old sweatshirt that is comforting to wear, a soft favorite blanket on your bed, a card, letters or phone calls from someone who cares all come to us from the hand of God.  God created the whole gamut of creation and he watches and ordains and is INVOLVED in each of his children's lives and it would be wrong to divorce God from an earthly comfort and to believe that God does not use sources from this world --songs, books, artwork, --to comfort his children.  God is not a religious snob, who refuses the comfort of his creation to go out to one of his kids who is suffering.

I thank God for his comforts. 

I really need them now.