There is a huge difference between comfort and contentment.
Contentment is a mind set. It is easy to seem content when we are comfortable. Contentment is remaining happy DESPITE circumstances. Contentment shouldn’t change if we have one or one-thousand dollars in our pockets. Contentment is accepting the hand we are dealt, making the best of it. It is a choice to remain positive. Contentment is making do.
As humans, we seek out comfort. Comfort means living well within our means. It means that we avoid the things that may be difficult, inconvenient, hard; things that might stretch us or grow us. Comfort means growing fat. Comfort means being insulated. Comfort makes caring about other people difficult. Comfort is a soft bed in a warm room. Comfort is something that we need to be more concerned about giving than seeking out for ourselves.
We are all susceptible to settling into certain, comfortable life-cycles. But growth only happens when we break away from them:
Consider a baby bird. It lives safely in a nest filled with warmth from its family and soft down. Mom and Dad take turns protecting their young, guarding the nest, bringing back meals in their beaks.[COMFORT] And then the time comes for them to leave the nest, abandon their soft, safe nest for something terrifying and new:flight.— I have witnessed it:
Once, I spied a baby bird on the ground. Its nest was on top of a soda vending machine. My immediate response was to scoop up the little dear and return it safely. Moments later, the feathery bundle was back on the ground. So again, I place it in the nest. Then I watch as Momma bird unceremoniously shoves the little fluffy wad out to the curb below. She probably did this until it dawned on the fledgling to use its wings.
Remember your growing pains; Your first broken heart; Your realization that Jesus endured torture and death because of us. There are plenty of moments in our lives that were hard, ‘uncomfortable’ places.
But where would we be if we stayed completely safe, unchallenged?
How do we learn except by taking risks, messing up, getting sidetracked, doing things the hard way, being wrong, being wronged, failing, being corrected?
We grow when we are doing the right thing; speaking the hard truth; taking a stand for something; withstanding pain; withholding judgement; holding our tongue; washing one others’ feet; walking a mile in someone else’s shoes; humbling our hearts; facing our fears; following our Saviour and admitting that we need help in our journey.
Contentment is finding peace in God knowing that He ultimately has our back. He allots us with what we have. He is the God who gives and He is the God who takes away. Praise the God who gives and who takes away! And if we focus on Him instead of all that is happening around us (easier said than done, FYI), we have contentment. We have the peace that whatever life throws at us, He is with us. He is sufficient.
The other day, a friend of mine asked the question “at the end of the day, if everything was stripped away, would the car still run?” As a person professing to be missional, this struck me especially hard. He was making an allusion to faith: If we didn’t have praise and worship time together; if our church was forced to go underground; if we were persecuted; if we were split up from other believers and stuck in a society of darkness, would Jesus still be our passion, our light? Would our faith stand the test?
We are venturing into countries bearing light. We have to come to terms with the facts: we cannot always be comfortable, we cannot always rely on others to be our “jump start” for faith, we cannot give in to feeling ‘alone’ in the darkness.
We are all in this together.
