A friend was telling me how he didn’t like that fact that we as Christians are warned not to be too comfortable. “Why?” he said “Can’t we count on comfort? We were given peace, comfort, and victory over fear and evil.” That is true, I thought. Maybe we are expecting to be in discomfort more than what God would have us.
As I thought more
about this, I realized that comfort is what all the alcohol supposedly brought
me. Or so I thought. I wanted comfort from fear, from memories of shame, from
traumas, and from guilt. The more I drank, the more I needed to drink and get comfort
from past situations.
So where is the
line? Since I have spent so much time and energy seeking comfort in the form of
escape through addiction, all lines are blurred. I need new perspective about
this. And what about my friend? Is he also too stuck on comfort? What does God
say? I think God is once again is saying it’s about balance. I need to be
willing to be uncomfortable for the sake of His kingdom. If I need to go out
and help someone in a difficult situation, then I will have to give up my own desires.
I might have to suffer.
However, it’s not
true that God will always push me into the least comfortable route.
Expecting that God has the worst-case scenario is a legalistic, and unrealistic
belief. This belief that God always chooses discomfort comes from inaccurate
perspectives about God. He is a loving Father. He feels toward me as I feel
toward my kids. He knows that I will sometimes hurt and need comfort. He knows
that I will sometimes choose disobedience and then I will receive consequences
of discomfort. He also knows that if He can intervene and bring me out of needless
pain, He will do that. And sometimes, He simply hurts right along with me as I
go through rough things. He constantly and lovingly teaches me.
The bottom line is that He never leaves me and He never sabotages me. He is always working for my good, not for my demise.
