Our Comforter

Kimberly and I adopted our first dog together in 2013. She was a husky/German shepherd mix named Chloe. She was a big dog with a very loud bark. When I served in youth ministry, I often traveled out of town overnight. Kimberly traveled with me on occasion, but when our first daughter was born, they stayed home while I was gone. It brought me a lot of comfort to know that Chloe was at home with Kimberly. She had the territorial, loyal, and protective instincts often associated with German shepherds and no one with nefarious intentions was going to make it past the 100-pound dog that met them at the door.

Chloe got sick last October and sadly she is no longer with us. I am getting ready to travel alone out of town for the first time since she passed, and I feel a little less at ease about leaving Kimberly and the kids alone without our guard dog. They’ll be fine, but Kimberly and I both recognize the comfort that Chloe brought us in moments like these is gone.

Throughout Scripture, we find God and his Spirit described as those who comfort us (2 Corinthians 1:3-4; Psalm 23:4; Matthew 5:4; etc.). In God, we have one who comes alongside us, who is ever present, calling us out of worry, anxiety, and fear. To live in recognition of that is to live in a constant awareness of this giant, spiritual, unmovable presence that casts a shadow over anything that concerns us, and in that we find comfort.