What’s Your Comfort Level?
As human beings we find comfort in a variety of things and experiences in life. Comfort can be physical, like relaxing in an easy chair at the end of a hard day’s work or finding that just right mattress for each night’s rest. It can also be emotional, a state of contentment and wellbeing. We’ve all heard the expression, “comfort foods,” particular food items that leave us feeling uniquely satisfied. It’s a combination of the physical and emotional.
Comfort can also be finding oneself in a situation where there are more knowns than unknowns. All of us have felt that tightness in our stomach or an increase in our heart rate when we’re in a new and unfamiliar situation. Those are signs that we’re beyond our comfort level. That’s why we often talk about the comforts of home. Home is predictable, it is known to us. The room layouts, the furnishings, the habits, and rhythms of life with our families are all familiar.
But what about comfort on a spiritual level? What does that look like? If you are a born-again follower of Jesus, think back to the time when the Spirit of God was drawing you to Himself. What did you feel as you were confronted by your sinfulness and by your inability to measure up to God’s righteous standard for living?
I remember the spiritual struggle in my own heart that resulted in physical discomfort. As I wrestled with admitting that I was an incurable sinner in need of a Savior, my chest felt tight, my palms were sweaty, and my heartrate increased. And when I finally yielded to the calling of the Holy Spirit, a feeling of incredible peace and comfort came over me. Maybe your experience was similar to mine. That’s really not surprising, is it? After all, Jesus, in John 14:16 referred to the Holy Spirit as the Comforter.
The apostle Paul opens his second letter to the Corinthians with an emphasis on comfort, but not just any kind of comfort. In these five short verses he uses the same Greek word 10 times! It is translated into two different English words, comfort, and consolation. I hope you’ll join me in our study from Second Corinthians chapter one titled, “What’s Your Comfort Level?” Listen now as I read that Scripture text, Second Corinthians 1:3 to 7.
In this text, we observe several LEVELS of comfort and how each one impacts our life and relationships.
The First Comfort LEVEL is,
The Source of Comfort
As I said in the introduction, we all like comfort. But really, where does genuine comfort come from and why is it important for us to find the answer to that question? It’s important because until we find the source of genuine comfort, we’ll keep trying things that fail to provide what we’re looking for. It was Augustine who said, “…our heart is restless until we find our rest in You.” Restlessness is tension, it’s the opposite of comfort. Augustine believed, and rightly so, that true comfort can only be found in a relationship with God through Jesus Christ.
Paul begins his letter by blessing, or eulogizing, God the Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ. He refers to God as the Father of mercies. In this, he borrowed from a synagogue prayer that called for God to treat the sinful individual with kindness, love, and tenderness. In his sin of numbering the people in Second Samuel 24, David was given a choice of his punishment. He understood the nee...
