II Thessalonians 2:16 “Now our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God, even our Father, which hath loved us, and hath given us everlasting consolation and good hope through grace, 17 Comfort your hearts, and stablish you in every good word and work.”
Our “consolation” and “hope” are endowed upon us “through grace”; that is, our Heavenly Father endows us with this blessed “consolation” and “hope” even though we are not worthy of it, cannot possibly earn it, and have no means with which to bargain to obtain it. This “consolation” is God sending His Holy Spirit to comfort us and sooth us as we face the distresses and troubles of this present life. This “hope” is granted to us by “faith” (Hebrews 11:1), making us know that our present troubles are “our light affliction, which is but for a moment” (II Corinthians 4:17); that is, “our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king” (Daniel 3:17). This “hope” assures us that God will carry us along, will teach our “hands to war, and” our “fingers to fight” (Psalms 144:1), fight our battles for us when we are no longer able to stand, strengthen us when we are weak, and pick us up when we fall. And, He wonderfully forgives us of our sins and points our minds to the day when the miseries of this present life will be remembered no more, when we are “gathered unto” our “fathers” (Judges 2:10). There is no “temptation” or trouble that our Lord cannot deliver us from or “make a way to escape” from (I Corinthians 10:13). It is called “everlasting” because it never ends, in this present life nor in Eternal Life. It is called “good” because it never fails. There are plenty things at this present time to discourage us and rob us of our joy, so let us “stand still, and see the salvation of the LORD” (Exodus 14:13), knowing that our Lord “hath given us everlasting consolation and good hope through grace” and that He will surely “Comfort your hearts, and stablish you in every good word and work”!