Comfort
God has been teaching Stephen and I many lessons since the beginning of our marriage. One of them has been a continuous theme from the beginning. I’m not sure if God insists on revisiting it because we’re slow learners or never fully grasp it or for some other reason unknown to us. That lesson is one of comfort.
We all like to be comfortable. To feel safe. To feel warm. To feel taken care of. It’s just comfortably nice. Occasionally the times that we feel uncomfortable are the ones that are “fun” just because they are unusual or novel to us. For example, mission trips are often like this. It’s a fun adventure to camp out in the middle of Asia without showers for a couple of days. My experience with squatty potties are ones that should never be forgotten. Eating strange things and smelling strange odors are all part of an experience that everyone should have. Any person who is even partially mature accepts a mission trip as an unavoidable intersection with discomfort. It’s all part of what makes the trip interesting. But, maybe that’s just me.
But what happens when God calls you to vocational ministry on the mission field? What happens when the discomfort isn’t novel anymore? Those are some of the questions that God has been bringing to my mind lately. As long as our lives aren’t international, we assume that we should be comfortable. Sometimes, if we’re really honest, we assume that comfort should follow us as long as we’re obedient to God. But where in the world would we get such ideas? More particularly, where in Scripture do we get these ideas? On the contrary, God’s word clearly indicates that being a follower of Christ is absolutely not comfortable. Let’s be honest here. Am I the only one that finds following Christ to be a completely challenging road? I have found that, although bringing great joy, being a Christ-follower is just downright hard.
It’s a hard lesson to learn that even when you’re right where God has led you, you may experience difficulties. Obedience can result in discomfort and pain. We were in New Orleans because God had led our family to study there. And then, the greatest natural disaster in U. S. history. We also believe that we were obedient to come to Birmingham. We have come to love many things about this city, but we get lonely. We don’t enjoy living away from friends and family. We enjoy making new friends but have had a hard time finding people who are truly interested in knowing our hearts and investing in our lives. We also don’t enjoy the kind of holidays that living away from “home” brings. We don’t enjoy the struggle that we’ve encountered to find a ministry where God wants us. We don’t enjoy having to journey with our family through grief over the phone.
You may think that these are just meaningless whines from a spoiled little girl; and you would be right. But, I won’t deny that sometimes my heart hurts. Nevertheless, we fully believe that God has led us to Birmingham for some reason—the same way that He leads everybody somewhere. If I believe that God has a purpose for me, then I surely believe that He cares where we live and where we minister. If He calls people to Latvia or Peru, He called us to Birmingham. So, why would I insist upon comfort? There’s no guarantee of comfort in His plan. Joy, yes. Peace, yes. But comfort, no. So, I guess I’ll just get over myself and focus on the One Who really matters.
We all like to be comfortable. To feel safe. To feel warm. To feel taken care of. It’s just comfortably nice. Occasionally the times that we feel uncomfortable are the ones that are “fun” just because they are unusual or novel to us. For example, mission trips are often like this. It’s a fun adventure to camp out in the middle of Asia without showers for a couple of days. My experience with squatty potties are ones that should never be forgotten. Eating strange things and smelling strange odors are all part of an experience that everyone should have. Any person who is even partially mature accepts a mission trip as an unavoidable intersection with discomfort. It’s all part of what makes the trip interesting. But, maybe that’s just me.
But what happens when God calls you to vocational ministry on the mission field? What happens when the discomfort isn’t novel anymore? Those are some of the questions that God has been bringing to my mind lately. As long as our lives aren’t international, we assume that we should be comfortable. Sometimes, if we’re really honest, we assume that comfort should follow us as long as we’re obedient to God. But where in the world would we get such ideas? More particularly, where in Scripture do we get these ideas? On the contrary, God’s word clearly indicates that being a follower of Christ is absolutely not comfortable. Let’s be honest here. Am I the only one that finds following Christ to be a completely challenging road? I have found that, although bringing great joy, being a Christ-follower is just downright hard.
It’s a hard lesson to learn that even when you’re right where God has led you, you may experience difficulties. Obedience can result in discomfort and pain. We were in New Orleans because God had led our family to study there. And then, the greatest natural disaster in U. S. history. We also believe that we were obedient to come to Birmingham. We have come to love many things about this city, but we get lonely. We don’t enjoy living away from friends and family. We enjoy making new friends but have had a hard time finding people who are truly interested in knowing our hearts and investing in our lives. We also don’t enjoy the kind of holidays that living away from “home” brings. We don’t enjoy the struggle that we’ve encountered to find a ministry where God wants us. We don’t enjoy having to journey with our family through grief over the phone.
You may think that these are just meaningless whines from a spoiled little girl; and you would be right. But, I won’t deny that sometimes my heart hurts. Nevertheless, we fully believe that God has led us to Birmingham for some reason—the same way that He leads everybody somewhere. If I believe that God has a purpose for me, then I surely believe that He cares where we live and where we minister. If He calls people to Latvia or Peru, He called us to Birmingham. So, why would I insist upon comfort? There’s no guarantee of comfort in His plan. Joy, yes. Peace, yes. But comfort, no. So, I guess I’ll just get over myself and focus on the One Who really matters.
posted by Jenny @ 2:20 PM
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