I’m not in my comfort zone. I’m not comfortable with that. Everyone deserves a comfortable life. You have to do what makes you feel comfortable.
Say hello to the new idol of our times. Comfortability as the litmus test: whether I will or won’t do something; will or won’t like someone; will or won’t participate. It’s become the litmus test of whether I am happy or whether I am miserable. How did we get here?
Comfort is a good thing. Straight out of the horrors and intensity of Chapters 1-39 of Isaiah we hear God say in Isaiah 40, “Comfort! Comfort, my people!” (a turning point in the prophetic book). God Himself is the “God of all comfort (2 Corinthians1:3), and He comforts us. It’s who He is.
What is the purpose of comfort, anyways? From a human perspective, it’s so that I feel better. It meets my needs and puts me in a better space (head space, resting place, or relational boundary). Comfort can tend to have a lean towards “self” and exist for the “self” to consume. Comfort gone awry is, to put it frankly, “all about me.” Sure, comfort food might have its place (especially at Christmas time). A warm blanket and a cup of tea as I snuggle in to read my novel or watch Netflix, truly may be appropriate sometimes. But comfort that, first and foremost, exists to express rugged individualism, self-fulfillment, and self-absorption is not God’s intended purpose for comfort. Comfort that drives me, consumes me, that my heart runs after daily is idolatry and comfort-run-amuck. It’s not God-centered; it is self-centered.
These past ten years have been the hardest of my life. I won’t go into gory details, but my life verse has very much developed in the embrace of Isaiah 41:10. God says, “So, do not fear for I am with you; do not be dismayed for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” I was called to uncomfortable things. I struggle with uncomfortability. In the midst of saying goodbye to my former life (church, friends, community, house, traditions), navigating late teen and young adult years in parenting, losing my mom, feeling lonely, physical changes, seeing new depths of my sin and brokenness in me and others, losing Henry’s father and beloved “homestead” at Conneaut Lake, becoming a true empty-nester as the kids settled East, and many other experiences in my Christian journey one thing is sure; God is with me. He is good and He is with me. That has been my greatest comfort.
I used to believe that His comfort was for me to “feel better.” Now I truly believe that comfort is granted so that I am fortified, strengthened, and emboldened to trust Him. As Brett McCracken says, “To truly follow Jesus is to flip the cultural script on comfort.” I see my love of comfort the older I get. I want it—and, if I’m being honest, I want it for the wrong reasons. If I’m being even more honest, it’s comfort for comfort’s sake and NOT solely to know God as the God of all comfort.
Life is hard. Yet, His comfort supersedes that hardness and difficulty. Do I believe that God is enough? His presence is our greatest provision in this stressful, anxiety-producing, difficult life. Immanuel, God with us. I encourage you to think about what kind of comfort He really wants to bring you. For me, it’s embracing comfort in the midst of hard things and not expecting hard things to flee per se. His comfort is what we will be looking more at this Sunday. In preparation and for ongoing reflection (and maybe even confession) I recommend this article.
8 Ways to Battle ‘Comfort Idolatry’
By Kelly Knapp