Comfort-- reflections on SIN (the sermon of the week)

When things are down, we search for comfort. Some things that comfort us are good for us, while others may seem good at first but end up leading to discomfort later. For example, that quart of ice cream felt good going down, but now you have a belly ache and your pants are much tighter.

I have been one who looks for comfort in temporary things, things that do not last. The 2 seconds of bliss that are somehow supposed to overcome my hours of stress. Like that extra cookie is going to change the fact that people call you fat. Well, it tastes good.

God doesn't want us to look to anything but Him for comfort. God is a jealous God. He wants us to choose him first. He will provide everything else. The gifts God gives are good, lasting, helpful gifts. My husband is probably the best example of a great gift God has given me. But I have to be careful not to think that he is the answer to all of my problems, that would be putting Dave before God, making him an idol.

When we think of idols, we think of gold statues, or at least I do. But an idol is anything that you put before you that you worship. Worship being that you spend most of your time and effort working for it, thinking about it, and planning your life around it. It could be money, food, fashion, appearances, family, cars, a million different things. Most people's favorite idol to worship is themselves. Because they want to do what serves them, and they want God to serve them, not to serve God. Who made who? (break into cheezy AC/DC song)

Do you have a god that serves you? Or do you serve a god? Some people worship Master Card, ruler of their wallets and commander of their paychecks.

If you find yourself looking to things of the world to comfort you, as the end instead of the means, you are in for disappointment. Do you believe that life will get better if you could just have a BMW, or if you could just move into that new house in the better neighborhood? Or how about if you just get married, or divorced? God wants you to be happy where you are, he wants you to find comfort where you are, in the circumstances you have.

God has asked me recently "Am I enough for you?"

Really, it took me for a loop, because God should be enough for me. I should have enough with my husband, pets, home, car, job. That stuff is great, yet somehow I am always unsettled. If all of that got taken away, if I didn't get what I asked for, but had what I needed, would I be content? Think about it. Really, really think about it.

When I do, I know how my Father God has spoiled me. Not by stuff, but by love. The things I cherish are people, relationships, the things that God wants me to cherish. The things I desire are really means to an end, to accomplish the mission he has set me out to complete. I have a home, a car, a job, but they are not who I am. I am a servant of my God and his people. And when I find my self unsettled, upset about things, I have to stop myself.

What is it that is really bothering me? Money always bothers me, it always will. It is a necessary "evil" so to speak to live in this world. But am I going to serve the god of money, or make money to serve me? I really pray that I never serve money. Especially because they are all just things. Yes, I have memories, but they are all in my heart, they can come with me when I die. The things will not.

To quote Ortberg, when the game is over, all of the pieces go back into the box. We have all heard that you can't take it with you. In Matthew 6, verses 19 and 20, Jesus says "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal."

So when I find comfort in things on this Earth, I have to remember that God gave those things as a gift to me, to serve me, to serve him. I have to remember that the gift is not in the thing itself, but in the Giver.

I believe you are all I need, I believe you're my portion, I believe you're more than enough for me, Jesus you're all I need -excerpt from "The Healer" by Hillsong