John 14:18 I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you. (KJV)

“I will come to you.” What a promise. In this verse Jesus is not saying to seek God out when we need comfort. When we’re lost, confused and hurting He isn’t waiting for us to get around to asking for help. He will simply respond to the cry of our aching hearts. God will come to us. He is the instigator of the contact. The Lord of Heaven and Earth will be right where we need Him. In the moments of agony and pain. He is there.

As a parent of preschoolers, I often hear one of my children crying in pain. Whether it’s a minor fall, a sibling tussle or a non-event that seems far worse because it’s past nap time. With kids, there are a lot of tears. No matter what I’m doing, suddenly nothing else is more important than racing to them as quickly as possible, wrapping my arms around them and holding on until the sobbing ceases. I rub their head, whisper softly to them words of love and encouragement. Sometimes I simply rock them gently. Those moments are all about comfort. Sometimes I think we confuse comforting with fixing things. Comforting is not punishing the wrongdoer. Comforting is not asking what, why, who. Comforting is about soothing, reassuring. Simply being there. God does not promise in this verse to make it go away. His offer is not to swoop in and fix everything so we have no problems anymore. The Lords assurance is that He is there. He knows our pain and will not just let us wallow in it. In His loving arms we can find safety, security and the knowledge that the King of creation cares intimately about what we are going thru.

The actual word translated “comfortless” here is orphanos. I’m sure you can figure out what English word comes from it. God is promising us that He will not leave us orphaned in this world that is so uncaring, cruel and harsh. We are His children. He loves us. Wants what’s best for us. When I want to stomp my foot, cry and decry the unfairness of it all, the Lord wants me to crawl into His lap, curl against His chest and let it all go. To allow the gentle voice of my Daddy to soothe my aching heart, calm my frazzled nerves and comfort my soul.