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"COMFORT FOR OUR EVERY AFFLICTION" "This is my comfort in my affliction: for thy word hath quickened me." (Psalm 119:50)Despair, diseases, disabilities, or the death of a loved one are just some of the afflictions of life that millions of people are acquainted with on a daily basis. When times of stress, sickness, sorrow, or separation creeps into a person's life, more often than not, the grief bringing the gloom in one's life can be so tormenting that even a kind word from their closest friend sometimes seems to add to their fears and frustrations.The man or woman with no care or concern for Christ has no cure during times of afflictions, they continue to mourn in their grief. Ah, but as Children of God, we can turn to God's Word and find comfort in His matchless grace and mercy. Oh, the grand wonder of God’s Word when we read it and heed it. While we are in the midst of affliction, only those wonderful promises of our Lord, which we are instructed to hide in our heart, will empower and quicken us by giving hope, help, and healing.Aren't you glad God doesn't avoid the reality of our afflictions? Rather, He talks about the woes of the world we encounter in the Scriptures, and then He takes and uses those afflictions for His purpose and perfection in us. That's when we know that God is actively at work in our life and is molding us into the image of His Son When afflictions come along, and they will, they carry with it that silver lining of comfort found in 2 Corinthians 1:3 declaring, "Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of ALL COMFORT;" (caps mine) Let the comfort found in God's Word be your comfort. Whatever it is that's afflicting you in the very depths of your soul today, may the God of all comfort quicken your bruised and broken heart.Think about some of those dear folks in the Old Testament and what they knew about the God of all comfort when facing their various afflictions. Take a moment someday and study the lives of those people and the troubles they faced. And yes, many of their affections were often brought about by their own fleshly desires. or their fearful doubts, or their forgetful duties.1. There was that filthy display of nakedness by a drunken Noah. 2. A lapse in faith concerning his wife like Abraham gave in to. 3. Moses the deliverer leading on one hand a mass of complaining followers and fighting foes with the other hand.4. The numerous family troubles of David, the greatest king of Israel. 5. The prophet Elijah fleeing the work for a short while out of fear. Friends, by responding to our afflictions like some other believing friends of ours that I didn't mention who are found the Bible from centuries past, like Joseph, Samuel, Esther, Ruth, and Daniel, along with others, we too can "Anchor our All" in our Heavenly Father by trusting what the Holy Spirit inspired for you and I these days in that timeless verse found in Romans 15:4 about "Learning to be Comforted."