There’s no victory without a battle.

Who doesn’t like to be comfortable? Nobody. While most of us believe God will comfort us, the question is “How?” I have noticed that most of us have a misconception about that. We think that God’s comfort means that we can totally avoid uncomfortable issues we face. Or that He will remove us when we find ourselves in trouble. 

The God of comfort

Second Corinthians 1:3 & 4 says:

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.

The root of the word for comfort (parakaleo) in this New Testament scripture means “to call to one’s side; to encourage and to strengthen.” It never means to make it easy, take care of things for us or remove us from the struggle. 

When we read “God of all comfort”, it means that God wants to see a number of things accomplished in our life. He is committed to walk with us. And He encourages us in and through tests just like He did for Meshach, Shadrach, and Abed-Nego. When they went into the fiery furnace, they didn’t get burned. But they did get a greater revelation of who God is! 

The goal of trials

1. God wants us to know Him better and trust Him more. He uses the struggles we go through to accomplish that. Can you relate to that? I certainly can. 

2. Godly character is developed in our lives to increase our influence in the world we live in….many more people would be drawn to Jesus because of us. John 12:32, “And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to Myself.”

3. When we go through our fiery furnaces with God, we will be prepared to glorify Him as overcomers and be equipped to face our future struggles and battles…leading to future greater victories.

So we need to settle in our hearts that something great will be accomplished in and through the daily struggles we face. It’s time to stop asking God to comfort us according to our misconceived notion of comfort. Instead of asking Him to take us out of our struggles we will pray that He comfort us by being with us in the struggles.

Oh yes. I almost forgot to mention another thing. 

4. One way God promotes us in His kingdom is through the victories we win in battle.

Promotion on the way!

In other words, the struggle you face is proof that God is getting ready to promote you in His kingdom! The greater the struggle, the greater the promotion. Wow! That means some of us are on the verge of great promotions in God’s kingdom!

David proves my point. After he faced and killed his Goliath, he was promoted from shepherd boy to king over God’s people.

In conclusion, the struggle you face today is about the destiny of tomorrow. The bigger the struggle the more that’s at stake. The next time you ask God to comfort you, remember there’s no victory without a battle. Don’t circumvent your destiny by giving in to comfort.