The God of Comfort
Don’t seek comfort, seek God. Don’t seek to be comfortable, but seek the God who comforts.
As humans, we want to be comfortable. There’s this level of desire and satisfaction that comes when we seek comfort. But we have the tendency to selfishly seek out our own comfort. And that plays itself out in as many ways as there are people in this room.
I see in my own heart how easily I can make a god out of my own comfort. And if we’re not careful we can do a bunch of religious things and say the right stuff but “comfort” could easily be our lord instead of Jesus. I wonder if we could check the throne of our hearts at random moments throughout the day, would we see decisions that were governed more by being comfortable then our relationship with God?
Do we live in a way that we really have to rely on the Lord and the satisfaction and comfort he gives? Or de we run to our own comforts and stiff arm God along the way? Do we live in a way that we really don’t need to be dependent on the Holy Spirit in our daily lives? Don’t hear me say you can’t ever relax and that you can never enjoy things. I’m not saying that. But what I’m asking is what are the tendencies in our life and what are the situations in which we seek our own comfort instead of loving God and sacrificially loving others?
Most of the time it’s not about choosing between a morally right or wrong thing but it’s about God wanting us to take our comfort to the cross for the sake of another’s comfort. And not only does he use those moments to chisel away at our hard hearts but during those times we can literally be God’s comfort in tangible ways to others.
2 Corinthians 1 says:
“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 may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.”
Don’t seek being comfortable, but seek God. Seek to rid yourself of any comfort that gets in the way of your joy in God especially when it comes to loving others.
Does your soul need true comfort this morning? Is there a thirst deep in your soul? Or maybe you have had hunger like aches in your soul recently that nothing seems to satisfy? Don’t keep filling it with cheap comforts that will continue to leave your soul empty. No matter who you are in this room right now or where you’re at with God. The creator and satisfier of our souls is calling out to us.
And in the words of Isaiah 55, “Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has no money for food, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and labor for that which does not satisfy? Listen carefully to me, and eat what is good, and delight yourselves in rich food. Incline your ear, and come to me; listen, that your soul may live...”