Comfort

We want to be comfortable. We like comfortable. We are most comfortable with comfortable. What we don't like is uncomfortable. Pain, discomfort, hardships, trials ... these things are not on our list of "good". No, no, we like comfortable. In fact, a lot of Christians expect it. If they don't have it, it's bad. If they don't have it, they expect, at least, to get it. For some, it's a matter of faith. They trust that God will, at least eventually, make their lives more comfortable. Indeed, some think of it as a matter of rights. Not only do they expect it; they demand it. They hold that God promised it and if they have sufficient faith, God is forced to provide it.

I have to say that this is entirely outside of my experience. You see, I have a problem. I like comfort way too much. God, being God, I think, knows this. So if I get too comfortable for too long, I tend to tell God, perhaps not in words, "It's okay, God ... I have this now. You can relax." And, of course, the simple fact is that "in Him we live and move and have our being." The truth is that the power we need to do what we ought and be what we ought is found only in Him. So ... when I get too comfortable for too long, I tend to believe a lie and forget about God.

I'm not saying that I'm not comfortable. I'm not saying that I'm not satisfied. I'm not saying that life is just too tough. It just seems that there is always something ... wrong. It might be a health issue or a relationship issue or a job issue. It might be a family problem or a personal problem. It might even be a fantasy problem. (You do know, I assume, that sometimes we suffer from difficulties that aren't real. You know the kind. "Oh me, oh my, I'm such a good-for-nothing. I can't do anything right. I'm too fat/ugly/thin/poor/stupid/whatever." Or, "Oh, dear, what will become of my child if he or she does ____???" We manufacture false problems.) But it seems as if, like Paul, there is a constant thorn someplace that serves as a constant reminder that "My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness" (2 Cor. 12:9).

Maybe you, if you thought about it, might find that this, too, is you. Maybe you, if you think about it, might find that God's apparent refusal to make you comfortable is an act of mercy on His part, because you, like me, might have the very same tendency to forget the Source when we find the product. Maybe you, if you realize this, might find that difficulties in life are really blessings from a loving God who isn't willing to let you go into that malaise of comfort.