On His last night in mortality, Jesus promised His disciples another comforter. Now, He had been their comforter during His ministry, but now He was going away - but not before He assured them that He would not leave them as orphans. It is no accident of translation that Jesus called the Holy Ghost ‘The Comforter.’ Now, what is this ‘Comforter,’ and how may I receive Him. This powerful and simple story will illustrate; it comes from the life of one of my friends and former students.

Meggan was 11 years old. Now, among her friends one of the ‘coolest’ things you could do was baby-sit. I can’t for the life of me figure that out, but I suppose it must have been a mark of a mature young woman if she could be trusted to be a baby-sitter.

One night Meggan was asked to baby-sit her nephew. Oh boy! – wait till the next day when she could tell her friends. Well, everything was going great. At first they watched movies, they played with toys, they had a great time, and everything was under control.

But then – and only a parent would fully understand this – then it came time for bed. Meggan took little Zack upstairs and began to rock him to sleep in the rocking chair. But instead of settling down, Zack began to cry – hysterically. And nothing Meggan tried to do would settle him down. Finally out of frustration and panic, she almost began to cry herself.

Then she remembered her parents. She left Zack upstairs, and down the stairs she ran and called her parents. The phone rang and rang. No one was home. By now, Meggan’s fear had given away to terror. She ran back upstairs to check on Zack, and he was still screaming. She stood there wondering what to do, and now tears overflowed and she began to cry.

Just then, she heard a knock at the door. Frantically she raced down the stairs thinking it was her parents. But when she opened the door, there was no one there. Oh, that was it! – That pushed her over the edge. Meggan dropped to her knees, and asked Heavenly Father to help her calm Zack, and help her be comforted as well. She finished that heartfelt prayer and she stood up.

And at that moment, she heard a gentle comforting voice from upstairs calling her name, “Meggan, Meggan.”

Following the voice, Meggan went back upstairs to Zack’s room. As she entered the room, the calmest feeling came over her. When she looked in the crib, Zack was sleeping peacefully. With gratitude in her heart, Meggan kissed Zack on the cheek, flipped off the light, and left the room – knowing that it wasn’t just Zack who was being tended and watched over on that dark night.

My dear friends, in the Greek, the word for ‘Comforter’ means advocate or one who is summoned to the side of another to strengthen and support in times of distress and danger. Heavenly Father will send ‘the Comforter,’ the Holy Ghost. Don’t do life alone. There is no joy in that. Rather, draw near unto Him and He will draw near unto you, and you will know the peace, the comfort that passes all understanding.

God bless.