God Desires Holiness not Comfort
As a society, we as Americans are all about comfort. It is hard to think of an area of life where we do not strive to have the maximum possible level of comfort. When we buy cars, we want the most comfortable features. When we equip our homes, we want every convenience that brings us more ease and comfort. We hate to wait, and we hate to experience pain or discomfort. I think this leads us to a misunderstanding of God's will for our lives. We think He wants us to have all of the comforts of life, so we pray for them. When we don't get them, we wonder why, or we get mad at God. We need to realize that God does not have our fixation on comfort.
I am convinced that God cares much more about our holiness than our comfort. In fact, if pain or discomfort will lead us to be saved or to be more like Jesus, I believe He is all in favor or giving it to us. He has the eternal view of things. If we live in luxury for 125 years on earth, but we end up in Hell, we have missed the meaning in life. If we get saved, and we live the good life materially, but we never grow to spiritual maturity and holiness, we have failed in our Christian life. That is one major reasons God allows pain, heartache, and discomfort to come into our lives. It leads us to realize the important things in life, if we will listen to Him.
Think of Jesus. Was He into comfort? He was born in a manger. He never owned a home. He lived to serve others not to satisfy Himself. He suffered persecution and death for us. The Bible says that He was a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. He did not take the easy road. He took the road of holiness, always doing the will of God. When we do that we will experience pain and discomfort. Sometimes, we need some discomfort to push us towards God and His eternal plan for us to know Christ and to be like Him.
Tomorrow, I intend to read Amos 7-9 and Revelation 8.
I am convinced that God cares much more about our holiness than our comfort. In fact, if pain or discomfort will lead us to be saved or to be more like Jesus, I believe He is all in favor or giving it to us. He has the eternal view of things. If we live in luxury for 125 years on earth, but we end up in Hell, we have missed the meaning in life. If we get saved, and we live the good life materially, but we never grow to spiritual maturity and holiness, we have failed in our Christian life. That is one major reasons God allows pain, heartache, and discomfort to come into our lives. It leads us to realize the important things in life, if we will listen to Him.
Think of Jesus. Was He into comfort? He was born in a manger. He never owned a home. He lived to serve others not to satisfy Himself. He suffered persecution and death for us. The Bible says that He was a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. He did not take the easy road. He took the road of holiness, always doing the will of God. When we do that we will experience pain and discomfort. Sometimes, we need some discomfort to push us towards God and His eternal plan for us to know Christ and to be like Him.
Tomorrow, I intend to read Amos 7-9 and Revelation 8.