Holy Comforter

“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God. For just as we share abundantly in the sufferings of Christ, so also our comfort abounds through Christ.”
(2 Corinthians 1:3-5)

In a museum in northern France, you can view the Bayeaux Tapestry. It is so long that it wraps around the walls of a large room, like the longest cartoon strip ever, with hundreds of scenes and captions. It dates from the late eleventh century and tells the story of the Norman Conquest. The Latin captions were first translated into English in the 17th century.
One scene depicts William the Conqueror urging his troops forward into a bloody battle at lance-point. The caption on the panel is translated, “William comforts his soldiers.” Pushing them into battle. Urging them on with the tip of his blade. Something must have been lost in translation, right? But this is not a mistake. The translation was made around the time when Bibles were first coming out in English, giving us the term Comforter for the Holy Spirit, and comfort had a different meaning than it does now.
So why am I telling you this? Because these days, when we think of a comforter, we think of a nice soft blanket. We want to stay in our comfort zones, take comfort measures, and eat comfort food. We enjoy creature comforts like comfortable homes and comfy clothes. But the word really means “with great strength.” It carries the idea of encouragement in the strongest sense of the word, because it includes the idea of pressing someone to take an action that could mean discomfort. When you think of the Holy Spirit, put your warm fuzzy feelings aside.
Yes, he will come alongside you to comfort you in your grief. He is more than capable of giving you peace that is not dependent on your circumstances. But the Comforter also might shake you up and dislodge you from your safe and comfortable rut, especially when a battle rages just ahead.

Pursuing Today
How have you experienced the Holy Spirit? Recall the times He has stimulated you and strengthened you to face challenges. How has His comfort both calmed you and given you strength? In your own words, contrast the pursuit of comfort with the pursuit of the Comforter.