“Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it”
I Corinthians 12:27
Thursday, March 19
My Only Comfort!
by Pastor Kevin Van Wyhe
As the lever is pulled up you find yourself gliding back into that all familiar position. The one where you sink back into a sea of softness. Your feet, weary after a long day, begin to elevate and you slide into that weightless feeling. Without even trying, the moment of bliss effortlessly escapes from deep within your lungs. “AHHHHHHH!!!!” You have arrived. No more worry. No more stress. You are now home and contently seated in that luxuriously designed piece of furniture, your recliner.
The 20 year old appropriately labeled; “Lazy Boy”, located in the corner of the living room has shared this moment a countless number of times by each member of our family. Designed with one thought in mind, created really for one purpose, this worn and well loved chair has delivered it’s desired effect over and over and over. An effect that can only be summed up in a single word, “Comfort”.
The pursuit of “Comfort” is a journey that nearly all of us find ourselves traveling. This search for comfort is one that takes us in many directions. We work hard so we can surround or selves with activities and things that on the surface seem to satisfy. We put things on and try to take things off. We buy into the messages bombarding us from every angle that bigger is better and that you are only one step away from realizing that ultimate experience of comfort and contentment.
The problem is, we seem to always be one step away. No matter how hard we try or how much effort we give we just can’t seem to get our hands around it. The sense of comfort that comes from true contentment seems to always escape our grasp.There are countless books out there that are written by experts who have, on the surface, arrived and are now offering their advice on how you too can follow their path to success. But these recipes always fall short because they lack a key ingredient.
In Philippians 4, while finding himself in prison, Paul reveals the clue to solving the mystery that eludes so many in this world. “ 12 I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. 13 I can do all this through him who gives me strength.”
The “AHHHH’s” in life that we constantly seek for cannot be found in this world. They can’t be found in something we can earn or buy. Bigger is not really better but less can certainly be more.
Today as we face uncertainty, more than likely the things that many have placed their hope for comfort in are falling through their fingers like sand. Question and answer one in the Heidelberg Catechism gives support to Paul’s claim to contentment.
What is your only comfort in life and death?
That I am not my own, 1
but belong with body and soul,
both in life and in death, 2
to my faithful Saviour Jesus Christ.3
He has fully paid for all my sins with his precious blood,4
and has set me free from all the power of the devil. 5
He also preserves me in such a way 6
that without the will of my heavenly Father not a hair can fall from my head; 7
indeed, all things must work together for my salvation. 8
Therefore, by his Holy Spirit he also assures me of eternal life 9
and makes me heartily willing and ready from now on to live for him. 10
I Cor 6:19, 20.
Rom 14:7-9.
1 Cor 3:23; Tit 2:14.
1 Pet 1:18, 19; 1 Jn 1:7; 2:2.
Jn 8:34-36; Heb 2:14, 15; 1 Jn 3:8.
Jn 6:39, 40; 10:27-30; 2 Thess 3:3; 1 Pet 1:5.
Mt 10:29-31; Lk 21:16-18.
Rom 8:28.
Rom 8:15, 16; 2 Cor 1:21, 22; 5:5; Eph 1:13, 14.
Rom 8:14.
The secret to true comfort and contentment lies not in who we are but in WHO’S WE ARE. Knowing who we belong to in this life gives us hope, confidence and assurance that one day the rest our souls will feel in eternity with our heavenly father will far outweigh the temporary rest our bodies can find in the “Lazy Boys” of this world. Lean back and trust in the Lord. Put your feet up and cast all your cares on Him. Let out that “AHHHHH!” that can only come deep from within a soul where all is well.
PRAYER [Adapted from Psalm 62:5-8]:
Heavenly Father, my soul, finds rest in you; my hope of the future comes from you. Truly you are my rock and my salvation; you are my fortress, I will not be shaken. My salvation and honor come from you oh God; you are my rock and my refuge. In You, at all times, I will place my trust. To you I will pour out my heart, for you are my true refuge from the pain and uncertainty that comes from the brokenness of this world.
Give me strength today to be your message of HOPE for tomorrow. AMEN
May God Bless you and keep you and make his face to shine upon you and give you His Peace!
In His Grip,
Pastor Kevin