Of the many functions the Holy Ghost performs, the one he is known by is the Comforter. His role of comforting, however, is most prominent in the scriptural context of relieving distress, as when men “despise” and “reproach” you, or “shame” and “exclude” you from the congregation for being valiant in the testimony of the truth (Isaiah 49:7; 51:7; 61:7; 66:5; cf. Luke 6:22).
Persons who choose to stay in their comfort zones, on the other hand, who find gratification in worldly pursuits, addictions to physical pleasures, habituation to meds, overeating, and so forth, are unable to receive the divine comfort that comes to those who are valiant in the service of God, which he extends to all who experience trials and tribulations in the course of their labors.
And of such divine comfort there exist levels or degrees beyond the function of the Holy Ghost as we live by ever higher laws and principles of God: “If you love me, keep my commandments. And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you forever . . . I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you” (John 14:15–18).
As we can tell from this verse, Jesus’ coming to you personally is that “other Comforter.” But what if our trials in the service of God become so severe that yet another Comforter should come to us in the persons of the Father and Mother? Those who have experienced these things have indeed found “rest,” which is the promise of eternal life (Doctrine & Covenants 84:24; 88:3–4).
Nevertheless, if translated persons such as Jesus’ three Nephite disciples could still feel “pain and sorrow . . . for the sins of the world” (3 Nephi 28:38), how much more so Jesus himself or the Father and the Mother at the wickedness of their children? Said Enoch, “How is it that thou canst weep, seeing thou art holy, and from all eternity to all eternity?” (Moses 7:28–29).
Their source of comfort is surely their children who are valiant in God’s service such as his end-time servant and his millennial people of Zion: “My servant whom I sustain, my chosen one in whom I delight, him I have endowed with my Spirit; he will dispense justice to the Gentiles” (Isaiah 42:1); “I will delight in Jerusalem, rejoice in my people” (Isaiah 65:19; cf. 62:4–5).
At the same time, they too will be comforted: “Rejoice with Jerusalem and be glad for her, all who love her; join in her celebration, all who mourn for her. From now on nurse contentedly at her consoling breasts; draw at your pleasure from the abundance of her bosom. . . . Then shall you nurse and be carried upon the hip and dandled on the knees” (Isaiah 66:10–13).
