Where Do You Turn For Comfort?
How often do you seek comfort in the midst of trials? Do you pray and ask God to please take away all of your problems or pain?
It seems like most people are going through trials of some kind lately. Christians are not immune. Contrary to some popular preaching on health, wealth and prosperity … we are told to expect trials.
1 Peter 4: 12 says, “Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering, as though something strange were happening to you.”
Often our trials provide an opportunity for the Lord to teach us to depend upon Him. And if we permit Him, He will conform us to the image of Christ as our flesh gets chipped away.
But in the midst of this process … it hurts.
Each one of us may have temptations to find comfort in different ways. Can you identify with any of these?
- Comfort food
- Chocolate
- Alcohol
- Drugs
- Relationships with a person of the opposite sex
- Family
- Friends
- Shopping
- Internet
- Busyness
- Sports
Not all of the examples above are wrong or sinful. However, our trials should bring us to our knees before our Abba Father. After all, He is …the ultimate source of comfort.
We live in a time when we’ve become accustomed to instant everything. We hate to wait for anything, including our food.
But I’ve found that the lessons God teaches me take time. He’s more interested in building my character …than in my comfort.
Instead of always praying for the pain to be relieved, I’ve learned to ask that I learn the lessons in the midst of the pain. And that I would seek His counsel, wisdom …and comfort.
You know, it is strange that unbelievers sometimes think that because you are a Christian your life will be just a ‘joy-ride’…Um, I beg to differ out of my own experience…Trials are no fun, but always a lesson learned. As Paul said in 2 Corinthians 1 — we suffer so we can comfort others when the are going through trials — so we have compassion (I think)…
Thank you for sharing your comforting words with us…
Debbie, you are right in line with a message I heard YESTERDAY while traveling to my mom’s house. I am blessed to have been the recipient of godly wisdom!
It is in the waiting that we grow. He has lesson for us in every situation of our lives!
Thank you Debbie for this timely devotion today!
I’m thankful that God is my source of Comfort in times of suffering. The fact is, life hurts, and it doesn’t get easier as we get older. There are always lessons to be learned.
Great message Debbie!
Love you!
I have been spending a couple of months specifically learning this lesson. It’s a much-needed one and one I’m still working on.
Thanks for sharing this.
Debbie,
Thanks for sharing that with us. You are so right. We should expect trials and look to God for our comfort and help.
Sheryl
Awesome Post!!! Thanks for sharing!
I have had my share of trials, but they have all brought me closer to God. I also know that I will have more, but that God will be with me.
InspiringChristianStories.com
This was so very good…I especially liked…
“But I’ve found that the lessons God teaches me take time. He’s more interested in building my character …than in my comfort.”
During times of my life when I was away from the Lord, the faux comfort I received from other “things” was temporary and only brushed the surface….with Christ in me, whether on the receiving end of comfort or correction, I can rest assured that He is everlasting and His comfort goes deep into my very core….
I think you have a lot of wisdom, Debbie. Our pain wants the trial to end, but God keeps us in it to learn vitally important lessons!
“He’s more interested in building my character than in my comfort.” So very well said!
Thank you, Debbie! There is no doubt these are words many of us needed to hear today, me included. God’s timing is perfect.
Blessings.
Very nice my friend.
Such an excellent reminder, Debbie. Thank you! And that little cartoon made me smile.
Debbie, thanks for the devotion. In our hurting world, people are looking for answers. I do have a concern though about the quote “But I’ve found that the lessons God teaches me take time. He’s more interested in building my character …than in my comfort.”
Sometimes there may not be a lesson to be learned from the suffering. What about when a spouse dies in a car accident? For someone dealing with the shock of losing someone close to them, comfort, that can only come from God, has to come first. If it doesn’t, character building is much more difficult. When someone finds that comfort from God, they trust God, and their faith in Him is strengthened. God is very much concerned about our comfort. Christ comforted his disciples in John 14:1, God sent the Holy Spirit to be their Comforter in John 14:26 and God comforts us so we can share that comfort with others 2 Corinthians 1:2-4. My point is that while we face many sufferings in life, Haiti for example, character building may happen down the road, but character building cannot begin to happen until the hurting find the comfort in Christ Jesus. When people find comfort, they trust in Jesus and allow themselves to be molded in His image. Comfort from God is not “the deletion of the pain” it is knowing that He is there and will hold us and carry us as long as we need to be carried. It is trusting Him that He has been there, He is there, and will continue to be there.