Skip to main content

Comfort or Growth

“God cares more about your healing and growth than he does about your comfort."  When I first heard it, I cringed.  The thought unsettled me.  I like to think that God wants me comfortable and happy.  Consequently, I started checking the Bible to see if maybe, just maybe, this person was wrong.  I thought of the Children of Israel at the Red Sea.  He did not give them a get out of trial free card.  Nope, they had to go through the sea.  He wanted them to trust him and not turn back.  I thought of the times in the New Testament when Jesus said things that seemed harsh.  It occurred to me that possibly some of what we see as harshness is only Jesus loving the person enough to care more about their spiritual condition than about their comfort. Wow!  I think we live in a time where we are so afraid of hurting someone that we fail to say what they need to hear.  A few years back, I was pushing 200 pounds.  I would get on the scale look at it and then whine about how fat was getting.  However, that was as far as it went.  Finally, one day my daughter looked at me and said, “Well, what are you going to do about it?”  That hurt; it was uncomfortable.  It was also just what I needed to get me off my rear and do what I needed to do to lose the extra weight.  The most loving thing she did was say what seemed cruel at that moment.  How often do we care enough about the people we know to say the hard things that may make us unpopular with them for a time so that they may develop as a Christian?  Often, I fear I am guilty of not being bold enough to risk saying the tough things.  My goal is to be strong enough that if I know, what I need to say is for their growth and not meant to tear them down; I will speak the words they need to hear.   Then I will help them grow and encourage them.  God helped the Israelites cross the Red Sea.  Jesus also extended help to those who truly wanted his help.  I should also add that my daughter became my biggest cheerleader and encourager when I started to lose the weight.  Growth is not always comfortable.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Thank You God For Turning Our Ashes into Beauty

There are tragedy and sadness in everyone's life, No one is exempt. Yet, in the midst of the hurt and pain, God is there. He takes the things that hurt us and make us sad and turns them into things are beautiful. The death of my mother  was a tragedy to my dad. However, because of that tragedy, my dad began to see his need for God. In his brokenness, he found a God that could make him whole.  God turned his ashes into beauty. My dad, in turn, taught me to love God.   I am blessed to know God as my savior because of my dad. God also blessed me with a lovely step-mom Life is harsh at times, and many things are sad,  Yet, if we let him, he will take our ashes and make them into a work of art.   He delights in making the ash heaps of our life beautiful.   When we are broken, God is near, and where there is sorrow, he will turn it into dancing.   Thank you, God, F...
Post a Comment
Read more

Doctors and Taxes

Tonight, I’m doing something I absolutely hate.  My husband and I are working on a budget.  I imagine that most of you feel the same way. It’ kind of like taxes and doctors, we dislike them and breathe a sigh of relief when they are done. Truth be told; we really don’t enjoy working on a budget at all.  Yet it is one of the necessary components in knowing exactly how much you have and what you can spend. If indeed we are responsible to God for how we handle the resources that God has given us, then we need a clear picture. One piece of the puzzle that can bring the whole puzzle into focus is a budget.  It allows you to see and compare what you spend with what you have.  Sometimes as I’ve done a budget and looked at what I saw, I could see that the problem was little things that add up.  I realized that the problem was that I forgot the advice I had been given long ago, little things add up.  As we do a budget, we often see little things th...
Post a Comment
Read more

Rest For Your Soul

Tonight was such a beautiful sunny night that I decided to go for a walk and enjoy the warm summer sun before another wave of rain hits.  As I cranked up my music and headed out.  I could not help but praise God for the area in which I live.   I, quite literally, live 5 minutes from a small town.   If I want to walk, I can walk down deserted country roads without driving at all.  Yes, I am incredibly blessed.  I saw baby bunnies eating grass by the edge of the road and talked with the most friendly Jersey cows.  They always walk over to the edge of the fence as I walk by nodding their heads in greeting.   There was a deer, in a hurry to catch up with his “deer” friends I suppose.  There were daisies and buttercups, apple trees by the edge of the road and a creek that floods at least once during the spring.  I also occasionally see a very friendly donkey and a few horses who always come to the edge of the fence hoping I have sugar for...
Post a Comment
Read more