Though
you have made me see troubles, many and bitter, you will restore my life again;
from the depths of the earth you will again bring me up. You will increase my
honor and comfort me once again. (Psalm 71:20-21)
I can’t imagine a truly comfortless
world. I know Heaven is supposed to be perfect and no one there will have a
need for comfort, but I just can’t begin to imagine that. It will be wonderful,
I’m sure, but it’s beyond my imagining partly because comfort is such a
necessary and positive thing now.
How could we possibly know the depth of the love someone has for us if we never needed anything from them? Or if there was never any reason for them to dig deep in themselves to give to us? Comfort is an expression of love, and challenges love to deepen.
We need to be comforted because we are not perfect. We are weak and broken, sinners by birth and sinners by choice living in a fallen, weak and broken world. We need the strength and support that others can provide. This one is really tough for me. I cannot ask for help. I find it hard to accept help when offered. I remember many years ago sitting in a retreat going through a bunch of bookmarks that people had put on yarn strings. Everyone else was putting them around their necks. I was looking at them and putting them aside.
Two people told me I was supposed to wear them. I told them, “I don’t do that sort of thing.”
Then God said, “Those were given to you as tokens of the love that those people have for you. To not put them on is to reject their love.”
In tears, I donned them.
In some ways, I’ve learned. In others, I’m still the same person, still pushing others way to protect myself. Last week, a friend dog-sat for me. Two days ago, I accepted soup and corn bread from one friend. Today, a prayer was answered as someone who asked to remain anonymous volunteered to take care of building a wheel-chair ramp for us. The VNA has provided some supplies that Dad needs, and has given me some ideas as to where to look for help. I could not experience this comfort unless I also experienced the desperate need.
The flip side of this is that when someone else has a need, our provision of comfort to them blesses us because it gives us an opportunity to love, and to grow in our ability to love. To live in a world in which no struggles existed, and no comfort was needed, would deny others the chance to exercise their “comfort muscles.” It would be a shallower world.
Lord, teach us to comfort those who need comfort, and to help those who need help. Teach us also to allow others the blessing of comforting, so that both we and they may grow in the likeness of Jesus Christ.
How could we possibly know the depth of the love someone has for us if we never needed anything from them? Or if there was never any reason for them to dig deep in themselves to give to us? Comfort is an expression of love, and challenges love to deepen.
We need to be comforted because we are not perfect. We are weak and broken, sinners by birth and sinners by choice living in a fallen, weak and broken world. We need the strength and support that others can provide. This one is really tough for me. I cannot ask for help. I find it hard to accept help when offered. I remember many years ago sitting in a retreat going through a bunch of bookmarks that people had put on yarn strings. Everyone else was putting them around their necks. I was looking at them and putting them aside.
Two people told me I was supposed to wear them. I told them, “I don’t do that sort of thing.”
Then God said, “Those were given to you as tokens of the love that those people have for you. To not put them on is to reject their love.”
In tears, I donned them.
In some ways, I’ve learned. In others, I’m still the same person, still pushing others way to protect myself. Last week, a friend dog-sat for me. Two days ago, I accepted soup and corn bread from one friend. Today, a prayer was answered as someone who asked to remain anonymous volunteered to take care of building a wheel-chair ramp for us. The VNA has provided some supplies that Dad needs, and has given me some ideas as to where to look for help. I could not experience this comfort unless I also experienced the desperate need.
The flip side of this is that when someone else has a need, our provision of comfort to them blesses us because it gives us an opportunity to love, and to grow in our ability to love. To live in a world in which no struggles existed, and no comfort was needed, would deny others the chance to exercise their “comfort muscles.” It would be a shallower world.
Lord, teach us to comfort those who need comfort, and to help those who need help. Teach us also to allow others the blessing of comforting, so that both we and they may grow in the likeness of Jesus Christ.
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