Comfort - able?

 

(picture from pinterest)

“I am filled with comfort…”  - 2 Corinthians 7:4 NKJV

Who doesn’t want to be comfortable? Our society has gone from wearing jeans to wearing spandex leggings, and even wearing pjs in public. On Thanksgiving, some of us are sure to wear our “big girl pants” so we can remain comfy even after overindulging.

Yet, we often push away comfort for our minds and our hearts. Why? Do we not deserve to be comforted? Do we somehow deserve discomfort or suffering or agony? We probably don’t hide it as well as we think we do, and it can come out as anger or disinterest, or rudeness and we can offend people without even realizing it.

How do you define comfort? Not that “from the comfort of your own living room” kind of comfort, but the comfort we need when we’re challenged in some way. Whether by grief, a loss or bad news of any kind, too many of us refuse to be comforted in the moment, as if putting it off till later will make it easier or more quickly resolved.

(from pinterest)

The internet tells me that comfort means: 1. A state of physical ease and freedom from pain or constraint or 2. The easing or alleviation of a person’s feelings of grief or distress. It goes on to say that the meaning of “true comfort” is “to give strength and hope to; to cheer; to console. And further, a biblical understanding of comfort encompasses solace, encouragement, and strengthening in times of hardship, often signifying God’s presence and support.

To comfort someone, we need to listen to them, to show empathy and sympathy, be kind and supportive and offer help, we need to let them know we’re there for them, we need to give them hope and strength.

Interestingly, the all-knowing internet also tells us that comfort isn’t just a feel-good word; it’s a complex psychological state. Researchers define comfort as a sense of physical or psychological ease, often characterized by feelings of relaxation and tranquility.

But enough of what others have to say on the matter. What do you think?

(from praisecharts .com)

We’ll need comfort over big hurts and little offenses. We need comfort more often than we realize We tend to tuck our offenses into the far-reaching recesses of our minds where they’ll pile up without much notice until we stumble from the weight of it all.

Does it make us stronger than our friends or the general public when we “buck up” and keep pushing through with everyday life even though we’re wounded? Or does it make us less effective in our everyday lives than we could be? Carrying grief and wounds takes tremendous strength and saps us of the energy we need to live extraordinary and successful lives.

(from Pinterest)

Just as there are different love languages, there are differing ways of giving and receiving comfort.

When I hear you’ve received bad news of any sort, my first impulse is to buy you a gift (probably a bouquet of flowers) to lift your spirit. But those flowers may be a waste of money in your opinion. When I need consoling you may feel the need to give me a hug, but that might not be so well received in the moment.

There’s a title given to the One Who knows how to comfort all of us in exactly the right way: the God of All Comfort. He wraps our hearts in their "comfy clothes".

His love can be the comfort we run from most, denying that we even need it. Maybe we think it will be too messy or that we don’t have time for comfort right now. You know, stuff needs doing, decisions need to be made, and others need our comfort…

So, it’s actually a choice on our part to walk around with the weight of all of our wounds. If you don’t feel comfortable accepting comfort right now – schedule time for it. God will meet you wherever and whenever you’re available. He longs for your company, alone time – with you!

(from delightindisorder .org)

Are you comfort - able? 

But what will His comfort LOOK like, what will it FEEL like

Let Him show you. 

       I hear He’s found of the phrase, “Come and see…”

 

“God, You hear the quiet parts of our hearts that cry, even as we wail through grief we hide from everyone else.

You tenderly treasure our tears because they're tokens of our vulnerability; our need for You. Cover us with Your holy comfort, fill us with Your peace, quench the torment that seeks us night and day.

You see the anxious trembling that grief and fear try to smother us with, suddenly and without warning.

We know that You've not filled us with a spirit of fear.

You flood us with Your Spirit of love and power and a peace-filled mind.

Move in and remodel my heart until You're completely comfortable here and free to do whatever You'd like.”

 

(from Pinterest)

“Now may the God of patience and comfort grant you to be like-minded toward one another, according to Christ Jesus, that you may with one mind and one mouth glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

-         Romans 15:5-6 NKJV

“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 tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.”

-         2 Corinthians 1:3-4 NKJV

“Therefore comfort one another with these words.”

-         1 Thessalonians 4:18 NKJV