Comfort Zone

Getting dragged or pushed out of our sweet spot in life can make us miserable inside and out! When we’re stressed, some of us look for “comfort food.” A hotdog or mac ‘n cheese can carry us back to another time or place. Men hang onto old ragged sweatshirt or beat up shoes, because they are comfortable. Then, too, there is solace to be found in music. Depending on preference, it might be a sad country song about a lost love. an old hymn about heaven, or a concerto from Mozart that touches our soul.

Tragic news (not personal, but it felt like it) came to me yesterday. Every time it comes to mind, I feel deep emotion, a kind of brokenness that goes soul deep. Only the sweetness of prayer allows me to find the “God of all comfort.” I tell Abba that I am sorrowful for my friend. He whispers- “I will never leave you, never forsake you. I am the God of all comfort.”  Such is the blessing for those who know Him as the “Comforter.” 

God, the Holy Spirit, is called “the Comforter” in the Word. In the first language of the Bible He is named the Parakletos, describing someone who becomes our advocatewhen life becomes too much to manage on our own. Literally the word means “to come alongside.”  When we turn to Him in prayer, God comes to our side, stands with us, leads us through, gives comfort. Is your heart heavy today? Do other comforts call to you, things that are no real comfort at all?  With the simplest of faith, with a child-like expectation, turn to the Lord.

When you are crushed by sorrow, where do you go to find comfort?  There are many wrong places to go for solace. Addictions may result from seeking comfort in a wine glass or prescription pill. Neurosis may take over when disappointment is allowed to morph into continuous rage. Our bodies will break under the pressures of stress, if we fail to find soul solace.

God’s comfort does not just ‘get us through’ the tough times. He lifts us, strengthens us, and causes us to stand up under the burden of sorrow. We can just try to survive and get back into our comfort zone. Many do and the pain is wasted.  It is not a cliché to say that we can live through those moments- feeling, knowing, learning, growing!   “But, Jerry, it hurts too much. I have to run away.”  Please don’t run. Instead, kneel. Weep and wait, sigh and sob. Those tears are a language of prayer.  And, in your sorrow, choose to trust God.  It may start only as words of hope, cries for His help. But, God is near to those who are broken-hearted. The real healing is found not in escape to some comfort zone, but in walking through the pain, all the while praying, listening, waiting, for the comfort of the Holy Spirit.  Our "God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, ...  comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God." (2 Corinthians 1:3-4, NIV)

Here’s the word from the Word.
"Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom.
He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak.
Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall;
but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint." (Isaiah 40:28-31, NIV)

______________

Is your burden heavy

As you bear it all alone?

Does the road you travel

Harbor danger yet unknown?

Are you growing weary

In the struggle of it all?

Jesus will help you

When on His name you call.

He is always there.

Hearing ev'ry prayer,

Faithful and true.

Walking by our side,

In His love we hide,

All the day through.

When you get discouraged

Just remember what to do-

Reach out to Jesus,

He's reaching out to you.

Reach Out To Jesus

© 1968 Bud John Songs, Inc. (Admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing)

Ralph Carmichael

CCLI License No. 810055