This morning found me on the back porch with a mug of blonde roast warming my hands, the steam rising like a little morning offering to the sky. The sun was already climbing fast. It almost like it was in a race with the temperature and humidity to see who could reach the top first. And here in Texas in August, I can tell you, the heat usually wins.
The live oak trees out back stood like old sentinels, their wide branches draped in green, casting shadows that moved slow as a Sunday morning. Down in the grass, a row of feral cats had lined up waiting for Sunday breakfast, each one still and watchful, tails curled .
Some mornings just have a way of turning your mind toward the deeper things, and without much warning, my heart wandered to 2 Corinthians 1:3:
“All praises belong to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. For He is the Father of tender mercy and the God of endless comfort.” 2 Corinthians 1:3
I just sat there a moment, letting those words settle in.
“The Father of tender mercy.”
“The God of endless comfort.”
Ain’t that the truth?
See, life’s full of scrapes and storms. We trip over our own mistakes, we get caught in the crosswinds of circumstances we never asked for, and sometimes, like right now in the Texas summer, we get smacked with a scorching-life-sucking heat that makes even the shade feel like an oven. Struggles can wear you down.
But here’s the thing I keep finding over and over: God never leaves us in the heat without a little relief.
He never fails to pull up a chair beside us.
He wraps us in mercy the way a mama wraps a blanket around a child after a bad dream.
He pours His comfort into the cracks of our lives, the ones we try to patch ourselves but never quite get sealed.
I’ve known that comfort in hospital waiting rooms when the clock seemed frozen. I’ve known it on long, empty stretches of highway when I wasn’t sure I had the strength for one more mile. I’ve know it during the emptiness of the time of my late wife’s passing, as the funeral home was rolling her body out of the house and I kissed her good-bye – that heartbreaking last kiss. I’ve known it sitting in the stillness of sleepless nights when my mind wanted to run a thousand different directions.
The beauty of God’s comfort is that it’s not a “sometimes” thing. It’s not doled out sparingly like it might run out. No, His comfort is endless. Like a spring that never runs dry, it just keeps flowing. You don’t have to earn it. You don’t have to have all your problems sorted first. You only have to turn toward Him and let it in.
So if today feels heavy, or if the heat, literal or otherwise, is pressing in close, remember 2 Corinthians 1:3.
The Father of tender mercy sees you.
The God of endless comfort is right there with you, ready to pull up a chair and sit beside you until the shadows grow long and the air cools.
Grace and Peace,
Jimmie
Did you enjoy this article? You can find more of Jimmie Aaron Kepler’s books at Jimmie’s books available in paperback, ebook, audio, and large print
