Today’s AMI QT Devotional is written by Doug Tritton. Doug, a graduate of University of Pennsylvania, is currently serving as a staff at Symphony Church (Boston) while pursuing a M.Div. at Gordon Conwell Seminary. He is married to Cindy and they are proud parents of Audrey.
DEVOTIONAL THOUGHTS FOR TODAY
“God of All Comfort”
2 Corinthians 1:3-5
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, 4 who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. 5 For as we share abundantly in Christ’s sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too.
I recall a few months ago, shortly after my daughter Audrey was born, there were some nights where nothing would comfort her: Try to get her to sleep? Didn’t work. Try to put her in the baby swing? Didn’t work. Bouncer? Again, nope. She kept crying and crying. The only thing that kept her from crying was holding her and pacing around the floor. In those moments, I felt defeated, like I was unable to comfort my own daughter.
Aren’t we like that sometimes? Not like the father, but like the crying baby? We complain and complain to God about this or that, wondering why He won’t answer our prayers. We can wonder in those moments if God even cares. But what does our passage for today tell us about God? He is “the Father of mercies and God of all comfort who comforts us in all our affliction.” Though, maybe, He won’t answer a specific prayer, we can be assured that He will always hold on to us – He will never let go. He will give us comfort, because He is the God of all comfort.
Today, come to God. Bring your requests – though he may not answer them right away – we can trust that He will comfort us. He will surround us with His presence and show His love to us. He is a faithful Father, One who holds onto us even as we cry, complain, and try to push Him away. He never lets go. That’s the love of our Father!
And with that love of the Father in us, let’s remember that we can comfort others: “We may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.” So, while the comfort of God lifts us up, let’s then turn to lift others up with that same comfort.
Prayer: Lord, thank You that You are the God of all comfort. So often do we complain and throw tantrums around You, but still You are faithful and will never leave us. Thank for Your unfailing, never-ceasing love and comfort for us. Give us today this comfort, as we go through the afflictions of life. We need Your loving presence in our lives. Amen.
Bible Reading for Today: Leviticus 13
LUNCH BREAK STUDY
Read Matthew 11:28-30: 28 Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.
Questions to Consider
- Who does Jesus invite to come to him? What does He promise them?
- How do we receive this rest from Jesus?
- How does Jesus describe life with Him?
Notes
- Verse 28 says, “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden.” Jesus invites those who weary, worn out from the world, those who are burnt out and stuck, and those are who just plain tired. To all who are struggling, Jesus says, “Come to me.” And what does He promise them? Rest – real spiritual rest. Not TV-binge-watching rest, but real, genuine soul-rest.
- Well, first off, we need to come to Him! But Jesus also says we need to take His yoke and learn from Him. What this means is that we need to learn to live life the way Jesus intended, because living life as Jesus intended will give us rest. This may seem counter-intuitive (isn’t Jesus’ way of life incredibly difficult??), but, in reality, Jesus’ way of life was the way humans were meant to live. Follow Jesus, live like Jesus, and we will find that we are living in a way that brings rest and peace to our souls.
- He says that it is easy! Again, this seems counter-intuitive, but as already mentioned, once we start living a life with God—the way God intended—we will find this more natural, in fact easier, than the competitive, unforgiving, stressful ways of life that the world pushes us to live.
EVENING REFLECTION
Tonight, remembering that our Father in Heaven is the God of all comfort, let’s come to Him and rest in His loving presence. Try not to speak – no prayer requests, no grievances, no words – but just rest in His presence and receive His comfort.
The AMI QT Devotionals from April 17-20 are provided by Jabez Yeo. Jabez, a graduate of University of Pennsylvania, is currently working in NYC and serving at TRPC-E. He hopes to become a missionary. His devotionals are based off material from Serge’s Sonship program. You can click 
One movie that I was thoroughly surprised to enjoy was Zootopia, which centers around a world where predator and prey peacefully coexist. The protagonist, Judy, Zootopia’s first rabbit police officer, enlists the street smarts of a fox, Nick, to help her discover the cause of some predators returning to savagery. Unfortunately, Judy hurts Nick tremendously when she suspects a biological cause for the predators’ behavior, as Nick has fought prejudiced ideas about foxes his entire life. It is only when Judy tearfully admits her wrongdoing and helplessness without Nick that they reconcile and uncover Zootopia’s secret conspiracy.
My all-time favorite Disney movie is The Lion King, which centers around King Mufasa, his evil brother Scar, and his son Simba. In the opening scene, Scar pays lip service to Mufasa by acknowledging his kingship but plots behind closed doors to kill Mufasa in order to be king. When Scar is successful and becomes ruler, the kingdom of the Pride Lands turns into a wasteland. Thankfully, the exiled Simba returns to defeat Scar, and the Pride Lands are eventually restored.
In yesterday’s devotional, we talked briefly about George Muller, a great hero of the faith. Through fervent prayer and faith in God and His provision, Muller was able to care for over 10,000 orphans during his lifetime. When describing what had to happen to become effective in prayer, Mueller mentioned two things: Firstly, Muller had to die to what he thought about himself, as he wrote, “You really can’t live for God’s glory…if you are thinking about what you think about yourself.” Secondly, Mueller mentioned that he had to die to what others thought about him.
When thinking about great heroes of the faith, George Muller should be considered on anyone’s list. Born in 1805 in modern day Germany, Muller established several orphanages in England, which cared for over 10,000 orphans during his lifetime. Despite exorbitant costs, Muller never made requests for financial support to anyone except God. Yet time after time, God’s provision of financial support would come at exactly the right time. Muller’s incredible faith and prayer life inspired other “faith missionaries” such as Hudson Taylor, who would go on to establish China Inland Mission (now known as Overseas Missionary Fellowship).
In the summer of 2011, my dad and I were having a father-son lunch, when we ran into a couple of my dad’s friends. Father-son time turned into three old men talking, while I just sat silently and smiled. But I didn’t mind because of who showed up next. The fifth member of our lunch party appeared a few minutes late, but it was MC Hammer. Apparently, the other two men were scheduled to have lunch with him, and they all just decided to join us! I remember being so star-struck, I couldn’t believe I was sitting across from Mr. Hammer himself! In short, it was an exciting lunch for most of the people sitting at the table. The only person who had no clue what was going on was my dad. He had never seen nor even heard of MC Hammer. I was so embarrassed on behalf of my dad, who asked Hammer silly questions like, “So, what do you do?” After lunch, as we hopped into the car to go home, I had to give my dad a briefing on American pop culture, and who it was that we had just eaten lunch with. Only after seeing the numerous YouTube videos, and beholding the sheer fame of MC Hammer, did my dad realize that he had failed to recognize the presence of an iconic star.
During elementary school, my best friend’s mother passed away from leukemia. It was the first tragedy that I had encountered in my life, and also the first funeral I had ever attended. But as I made my way to pay my respects at the open casket, more than grief, I was overwhelmed with fear. I had known this woman; I loved her, but there she was, passed on. What was going to happen to my friend? I proceeded to greet the family, and I found him weeping intensely. I wasn’t prepared, I didn’t know what to say, and I didn’t know what to do with all the pain surrounding me. I gave him a quick hug and a muted smile, and ran away to hide in a different part of the building. I wish I could have done it differently. I wish I had stayed beside my friend, but the fear and discomfort of pain drove me to run away. It was the most uncomfortable day of my life.
The AMI QT Devotionals April 10-16 are written by David Son, who serves as the college pastor at Symphony Church in Boston. David, a graduate of UC Berkeley (B.S.) and Gordon-Conwell Seminary (M.Div.), is married to Grace who teaches at a public school.
Not only is the Bald Eagle the national animal for the United States, the majestic bird is also a cultural symbol representing freedom and strength. Where people from other nations/cultures might see a mere bird, Americans understand the special and profound effect that the bald eagle has in stirring up patriotic emotions.
To be completely honest, when I first started serving on staff at my church, I had a hard time submitting to my lead pastor. Of course, I never did let it show on the outside; I did every task I was asked to do. But as the months went on, a grumbling spirit was taking hold of my heart; and as I continued to serve, it gradually grew into a root of bitterness. Perhaps you have experienced a similar rebellion of the flesh against submission to authority, whether at church or in the workplace. I felt trapped in this position, feeling obligated to serve, while at the same time unable to articulate the growing vexation within. But then something happened.
Historians say the most expensive gift ever given in the history of mankind is the Taj Mahal. The Taj, located in India, was commissioned by Shah Jahan to be built in memory of his beloved wife, Mumtaz Mahal. It took 22 years, 20,000 laborers, and 32 million rupees (that’s around 1 billion US dollars if you convert and factor in inflation) to construct this monumental project. As beautiful and inspiring as the Taj Majal is, most of us would agree that the gesture was extremely wasteful. Think about how much you could do with 20,000 laborers in 22 years, with 1 billion dollars. And the Shah used all that to express his love for his deceased wife by constructing a building that has very little functional value. What a waste!