Are You Idolizing Comfort?
I know I am.
And this was true of me long before COVID-19, social distancing, sheltering-in-place, and heartbreaking events filling up my Instagram feed.
After an emotionally-taxing day, all I want to do is order food off Uber eats, sit on the couch under my favorite blanket, and watch something that will replace my feelings of self-pity with happy ones.
On the surface, this looks like a good exercise in self-care. But, in reality, I’ve blown my food budget by paying an ungodly amount in delivery fees, and I’ve put my trust for comfort in a meal, a blanket, and a fictional cast living in a fictional reality.
WE ALL LONG FOR COMFORT
It's natural.
We were created to live in the comfort of a garden. A garden filled with unconditional love. The presence of the everlasting Father. Pillowy grass to lay upon. Food to ensure we never go hungry. And a peace that would fill every part of our being.
We've lost all that.
Now we groan for comfort like those homesick for their grandma’s home cooking, their parent’s fierce protection, and the moments in their lives that made them feel the safest.
Our longing for comfort is good. It reminds us we were not created for this world and fuels our hope for our new home to come.
But in the waiting, we must be careful not to allow our longing for comfort to become the primary factor in our decision making because when it does, our good desire for a good thing becomes inordinate.
FROM GOOD TO INORDINATE
We can tell our good desire for a good thing has become an idol when we are willing to go outside of the confines of God's commands to get it.
We bow down to our idol of comfort when we seek to soothe our frustration with gossiping. We call it venting, but by the time we're done, we've told everybody's business and defamed everybody’s character but our own.
“We can tell our good desire for a good thing has become an idol when we are willing to go outside of the confines of God’s commands to get it.”
We further prove our allegiance to comfort when we use pornography, masturbation, Candy Crush, or Instagram to numb the pain of our loneliness or boredom. We raise our hands in worship to our comfort every time we deny God's command to make disciples, staying safely in our Christian closet in fear of being rejected or labeled a bigot.
We are experts at finding places to hide from discomfort.
What is it for you? What are the things you run to for comfort when you're scared? Where do you seek refuge after an infuriating day at work or a heated argument with someone you love? What lies do you tell yourself so you don’t have to deal with the truth? Who or what have you deified and made your primary sources of comfort?
FROM INORDINATE TO GOOD
In his second letter to the church at Corinth, Paul writes, "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and the God of all comfort" (2 Cor. 1:3).
Paul offers praise to God for two reasons:
God is the Father of mercy. God is full of compassion. As Jesus was moved with concern by the helpless crowd's need of a shepherd, so too God is empathetic toward the hardships we experience in this world (Matt. 9:36). Your Father is grieved when you no longer live in the safety of his sinless garden. He didn’t create you to live in a world full of suffering. Like a good father, he cares about all the scrapes and boo-boos you endure in this world. He proves this by sending his Son to rescue you from this wretched world and its effects.
God is the God of all comfort. Only he can claim this title. In every moment of discomfort, we can transfer our trust in human-made sources of comfort to our omniscient, all-powerful, forever-loving, and always present God. In his omniscience, he always knows exactly what truth you need to be reminded of to get through a tough day. He's not like your well-intentioned friend who sometimes misses the mark on how to best encourage you. He always knows what you need to hear. Because he is all-powerful, he actually can provide you with the comfort you need rather than merely distract you with fictional stories or cute puppy videos for a few hours. And because his compassionate love never fades, he never gets tired of you running to him. Instead, he delights to make himself your helper. He is everywhere at all times, always ready, always willing, and always able to comfort you in your time of need.
“When you are convinced he can provide you with comfort perfectly tailored to your needs, you won’t take a chance on the false fix of a Netflix documentary or someone else’s affection.”
Your desire for comfort moves from inordinate to good as you grab hold of these two truths. When you trust that God looks upon your struggle with compassion, you will run to him first—not just after all your other gods have failed you. When you are convinced he can provide you with comfort perfectly tailored to your needs, you won't take a chance on the false fix of a Netflix documentary or someone else’s affection.
Only in the context of his all-knowing, all-powerful, forever-loving, and always present character will you resist the temptation of sin when feelings of anxiety, depression, unmet longings, and grief seem unbearable. Only then will you persevere in hardship and patiently wait for the kind of comfort that only God can provide.
GOD WANTS TO COMFORT YOU
Beloved, God wants to comfort you. He longs to satisfy you with good things. He has given you his Word, his Spirit, and his people for the journey from now to eternity.
Yes, this world will harass you, and Satan will tempt you to believe his prescription for discomfort is better than God’s. But your Savior left the comfort of heaven, died a more than uncomfortable death, and rose on Easter morning to provide you with the unfading hope and comfort you need (1 Pet. 1:4).
There’s not one thing in this world he hasn’t experienced (Heb. 4:15). He understands. Let him shepherd you.
Every time you run to something else for comfort, you deny yourself the pleasure of experiencing his love for you. You miss out on the opportunity of having him show up for you. He is so eager to love you and shower you with his comfort.
Will you let him comfort you?
Yana Conner is a proud St. Louis native residing in Durham, NC. After fifteen years of full-time ministry in both the parachurch and church context, she still can’t get over the fact she gets to dedicate her life to making disciples. She recently graduated with a Master of Divinity in Christian Ministry from Southeastern Theological Seminary and serves as an Associate Campus Director at the Downtown Durham Campus of the Summit Church. You can follow her on Twitter (@yanajenay).
