Getting Comfortable Being Uncomfortable - A blog by Mark
Hey Crew!
I’m extremely excited that the winter season is here. The ground is frosty, the day are short and every second person is wearing an expression of distaste on their face. It’s the time of the year that we are inconvenienced, uncomfortable and instinctively seek comfort.
Yes I’m a little loopy but hear me out: Winter can be metaphorical of the hard times in our lives. It makes us appreciate things more. Like winter, we can expect to have harsh seasons come to us in life. During these times we often ask where is God? I’ve often asked that question myself.
The answer I got wasn’t what I expected. I had a weird prompting to find 2 Corinthians 1:6-4. I was a little confused. Then I stated reading 2 Corinthians 1:6, then 5, and then 4. Sort of in reverse. This is what came out:
If we are afflicted, it is for the comfort of our salvation; and if we are comforted, it is for God's comfort, which you experience when you patiently endure the same sufferings that we suffer. We share abundantly in Christ's sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too; 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.
As Christians God places us out of comfort so that we can find comfort in him. So that we can endure, so others are drawn to seek comfort in us. So that we may share our comfort with them, which is Him.
Our stories of overcoming define our lives. The hard times we face grow us to appreciate great times to come. Without knowing discomfort how can we know comfort?
How good is it on a cold night slipping into a nice warm bed right? If it wasn’t cold out, that bed wouldn’t seem so good.
The same goes with our relationship with our awesome God. The time we have in His embrace during the hard times in life remind us how much a relationship with Him is worth.
Finding comfort in God is a right we all have access to. Christ Himself suffered on the cross for our sins; He’s shared in our pain. Wouldn’t He want to share His comfort with us?
The trials in our life test us and arm us with a testimony. Those trials grow us, define us and instill within us resilience. There is a reason that during humanities darkest times we call on our faith. It’s instinctual.
Jesus said “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” (Matthew 11:28).
I love that we have a God that wants a relationship with us, a God that understands what we’re going through, and that we’re tired of being burdened. He doesn’t say he’ll always take away the burden, though we can find comfort in his presence.