Comfort

Comfort...

Perhaps comfort is not in place so we can be at liberty in gluttony, self service, and be made weak. Rather, I believe, true comfort is in place as a balm for times of tribulation and trials for those who truly need it.

One might ask, "Am I comforted and in comfort? If so, then how and why? Do I feel entitled to comfort? Am I concerned for the comfort of those who are oppressed, poor, and grieving?"

Consider righteous Job...

In Job 30:25-31, he says, "Have I not wept for the one whose life is hard? Was not my soul grieved for the needy? When I expected good, then evil came; When I waited for light, then darkness came. I am seething within and cannot relax; Days of affliction confront me. I go about mourning without comfort; I stand up in the assembly and cry out for help. I have become a brother to jackals And a companion of ostriches. My skin turns black on me, And my bones burn with fever. Therefore my harp is turned to mourning, And my flute to the sound of those who weep."

Or consider this Psalm of Asaph. Asaph was a worship leader assigned by David for the tabernacle choir. In Psalm 77 Asaph writes, "My voice rises to God, and I will cry aloud; My voice rises to God, and He will hear me. In the day of my trouble I sought the Lord; In the night my hand was stretched out without weariness; My soul refused to be comforted. When I remember God, then I am disturbed; When I sigh, then my spirit grows faint. Selah. You have held my eyelids open; I am so troubled that I cannot speak. I have considered the days of old, The years of long ago. I will remember my song in the night; I will meditate with my heart, And my spirit ponders: Will the Lord reject forever? And will He never be favorable again? Has His lovingkindness ceased forever? Has His promise come to an end forever? Has God forgotten to be gracious, Or has He in anger withdrawn His compassion? Selah. Then I said, "It is my grief, That the right hand of the Most High has changed." I shall remember the deeds of the LORD; Surely I will remember Your wonders of old. I will meditate on all Your work And muse on Your deeds. Your way, O God, is holy; What god is great like our God? You are the God who works wonders; You have made known Your strength among the peoples. You have by Your power redeemed Your people, The sons of Jacob and Joseph. Selah. The waters saw You, O God; The waters saw You, they were in anguish; The deeps also trembled. The clouds poured out water; The skies gave forth a sound; Your arrows flashed here and there. The sound of Your thunder was in the whirlwind; The lightnings lit up the world; The earth trembled and shook. Your way was in the sea And Your paths in the mighty waters, And Your footprints may not be known. You led Your people like a flock By the hand of Moses and Aaron.

In John 16:33 Jesus Christ tells the listeners, "These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world."

Jesus also tells us to take up our cross and follow Him. There is nothing comfortable about the cross experience. 

The scriptures tell us, in Hebrews 12:5-6, "...you have forgotten the exhortation which is addressed to you as sons, "My SON, DO NOT REGARD LIGHTLY THE DISCIPLINE OF THE LORD, NOR faint WHEN YOU ARE REPROVED BY HIM; For THOSE whom THE LORD LOVES HE DISCIPLINES, AND HE SCOURGES EVERY SON WHOM HE RECEIVES." Other scripture tells us that no discipline and correction is pleasant at the time! But the fruit it bears forth is eternal.

1 Corinthians 3:13-15 tells us, "...each man's work will become evident; for the day will show it because it is to be revealed with fire, and the fire itself will test the quality of each man's work. If any man's work which he has built on it remains, he will receive a reward. If any man's work is burned up, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire."

Tested by FIRE!

1 Peter 1:7 says, "...so that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ."

Now, here is the good news that we may be comforted!

In John 16:33 Jesus tells us, "These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world."

In Matthew 5:4 Jesus also said, "Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted."

We are not left to our discomfort and tribulation without hope!

2 Corinthians 1:3-11 tells us, "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction so that we will be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. For just as the sufferings of Christ are ours in abundance, so also our comfort is abundant through Christ. But if we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; or if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which is effective in the patient enduring of the same sufferings which we also suffer; and our hope for you is firmly grounded, knowing that as you are sharers of our sufferings, so also you are sharers of our comfort. For we do not want you to be unaware, brethren, of our affliction which came to us in Asia, that we were burdened excessively, beyond our strength, so that we despaired even of life; indeed, we had the sentence of death within ourselves so that we would not trust in ourselves, but in God who raises the dead; who delivered us from so great a peril of death, and will deliver us, He on whom we have set our hope. And He will yet deliver us, you also joining in helping us through your prayers, so that thanks may be given by many persons on our behalf for the favor bestowed on us through the prayers of many."

So, along with Paul, I leave you this blessing found in 2 Thessalonians 2:16-17: 

"Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself and God our Father, who has loved us and given us eternal comfort and good hope by grace, comfort and strengthen your hearts in every good work and word."

And, if yours is a life of comfort you might ask yourself, "Am I comforted and in comfort? If so, then how and why? Do I feel entitled to comfort? Am I concerned for the comfort of those who are oppressed, poor, and grieving?" Remember these words of Jesus in Luke 6:24...

"But woe to you who are rich, for you are receiving your comfort in full."

And, finally, the instruction found in Psalm 118:8:

"It is better to take refuge in the LORD Than to trust in man."