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Comfort for Comfortable People
Comfort, O comfort my people, says your God. (Isaiah 40:1)
Isaiah cried out loudly. He spoke this message while he and the Israelites were in Babylon. You know Babylon. They were all in exile.
Isaiah’s voice was penetrating through the dark cloud of their gloomy existence.
This was very well captured by Handel. If you listen to Handel’s Messiah, after a beautiful string overture, there is a piercing opening line of Tenor.
And he sang this line.
Comfort, O comfort my people, says your God.
But to me, it is a strange message. If you knew the historical context of what the Israelites experienced in Babylon, you would also find what Isaiah said – very strange.
Their life in exile was not necessarily bad. Yes, they were captives. It wasn’t their own homeland.
But they were COMFORTABLE. They had economic prosperity, personal freedom, and their day to day living was good. Even though they were in exile, they were very comfortable.
So comfortable that they didn’t want to come home when Cyrus, the king of Persia, told them to go home. Cyrus even gave them money to go back to their homeland but many of them chose to stay there because their personal life was good.
So Isaiah preached the message of comfort to already very comfortable people. That is what is strange.
Maybe that’s what I am doing right now. I am preaching the message of comfort to already very comfortable people.
More Than Convenience
Being comfortable is very important to us. We want to be financially comfortable. Physically comfortable. We want no stress.
Being comfortable can be easily translated as well-being of our life. We try to create an environment where there is no discomfort and inconvenience.
Have you heard the term, “Domotics”? I don’t even know how to pronounce the word.
Domotics is the use of electronic systems to control and automate your home. Make your home a smart home.
You use technologies to open and close the door, turn on and off the lights. Internets and cameras.
When we raised a child, there was no such thing as baby monitors. Our ears had to be very good so that we were able to hear baby crying.
But now they just look at the screen. It’s like you are right there even though you are away from them. A smart home. A smart TV. A smart phone.
Even cars are so smart that you don’t need a key. I don’t have to do anything. Just have your remote in your pocket.
Once I went to Hamilton to play golf. After the golf, I pressed my remote but my car door would not open. I tried several times but it wouldn’t open the door. I think the battery was weak.
I didn’t know what to do. I didn’t even know that there was a physical key within the remote. I was in panic. Luckily, it opened after several trials. Maybe there was a little battery left. It’s a smart car but the user is not that smart.
Everything is about being comfortable. Convenient. Effective.
But do we really have the comfort just because we are comfortable? Having comfort is more than just being comfortable. Comfort is more than convenience.
Having comfort is a deeper sense of peace. It is not just about having convenience.
When you are comforted, your sadness is lifted off from you. Your guilt is removed. You feel a deep sense of being accepted.
Removing Our Discomfort
Yesterday, one of our ESM members called me. She didn’t know what to do. Just last Wednesday, her friends’ son all of a sudden passed away. He was only 25 years old.
He went to his friend’s house and after the dinner, he just collapsed and doctors could not do anything. His mother could not even lie down because she could not breathe. I prayed for them.
They live in a comfortable environment but they still need comfort.
That was what Isaiah meant when he said,
Comfort, O comfort my people, says your God.
You are comfortable living in a comfortable environment, but you still need comfort.
Our understanding of comfort is the absence of discomfort. So we try our best to remove discomfort to live a comfortable life.
This is problematic to me.
I heard this story about making frog soup. I don’t know whether it is true or not. Haha. But a good story.
You put a frog into a pot of water. And the frog swims comfortably. And you raise the temperature slowly and the frog adapts to the change of the water temperature until it is comfortably cooked.
If the comfort is only the absence of whatever gives you discomfort, like stress, anxiety, and frustration, then death is the most comfortable.
If you go to Palliative care, they don’t do anything. They just help you very comfortably and painlessly die.
The comfort is not the absence of discomfort. To give you comfort, God does not remove your discomfort.
Embrace Your Discomfort
Paul had the experience of having a thorn in his body. This thorn made his life very painful and uncomfortable. He wanted to get rid of this thorn because it was so uncomfortable.
God showed him a great wisdom. Basically God said this to him.
Living a happy life does not mean getting rid of all the thorns in your life. The purpose of your life is not to get rid of whatever that brings you discomfort.
Embrace your thorn, God told St. Paul. Live with it. My grace is sufficient onto you. You can handle your thorns.
If you get rid of everybody who makes you feel uncomfortable, does that make you happier? If you get rid of everything that gives you stress and frustration, does that make you happier? If you get rid of every thorn that you have, does that make you happier?
I wonder.
But I have a strong suspicion that getting rid of these things will not make me any happier.
I think there is a secret of happiness hidden in discomfort. Learn to embrace the discomfort of your life.
Welcome the discomfort in your life. Discomfort can teach you many good lessons of life.
St. Paul said, suffering produces character.
…we also boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us. (Romans 5:3, 4)
He said he boasts in his sufferings. He did not avoid or push away discomfort. He embraced his own discomfort. He embraced his own sufferings.
Simone Weil, one of my favourite authors, said.
It is not the path that is difficult, difficulty is the path.
Comfort and discomfort are not mutually exclusive. God brings comfort through your discomfort. God will embrace you when you are in discomfort.
The prophet Isaiah said,
He will feed his flock like a shepherd;
he will gather the lambs in his arms,
and carry them in his bosom,
and gently lead the mother sheep. (Isaiah 40:11)
When you are in discomfort, God will come and embrace you and comfort you. When you are sad, God will come and embrace you and your sadness will be lifted off.
That is when you experience the true comfort.
True Comfort in Discomfort
When you live your life, welcoming and embracing discomfort, your life will be enriched with so many wisdoms.
The discomfort will strengthen your character. It will even produce a deep sense of hope.
You will not be easily broken. You will not be easily shaken. You will not be scared of challenges. You will not live in fear anymore.
More than anything else, you will see the glory of God that surrounds you. The cross reveals the glory of God.
Embrace the discomfort for the sake of others. Don’t spit it out.
You will find the true comfort.
Comfort is not making your life comfortable. Comfort is God’s embrace. When you feel God’s embrace, you will find the true comfort. The comfort is found in discomfort.
Jesus said this.
Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. (Matthew 11:28-30)
Jesus didn’t say, come to me, all you that are comfortable. He said, come to me all you that are weary and carrying heavy burdens… In other words, those who are in discomfort.
Jesus will give you rest for your souls. That is the true comfort.
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