Comfort vs Contentment

Have you ever felt comfortable but not content?  That is the way that I have felt for the last three years or so.  Even as we are standing in faith for my wife’s health, we have been blessed with a comfortable income, a beautiful place to live and basically have all of our needs met.  Through it all though, I have had a growing restlessness with the whole set-up!  Now, with my Dad’s passing, we suddenly have found ourselves facing brand new challenges that are shaking up the comfort of our current way of life.

It can be likened to sitting in a comfortable seaside lodge gazing out a picture window that looks out on the beautiful ocean, when a side wall miraculously opens up to reveal a whole new world you’d never before imagined.  And with that open doorway, you begin to hear an inner voice say: “Go Ye!”

That new scene has begun to unfold before our eyes and while it is exciting, it is also a little scary!  It is exciting because it seems to be an answer to the lack of contentment I have felt, but scary because it is a totally new path that I am beginning to see the Lord set forth before us. 

Yesterday as I started the process of confirming the upcoming changes, I found myself fighting the good fight of faith as I attempted to turn the whole situation over to the Lord for His guidance.  After all, He’s successfully led us this far and He is not about to neglect us now… right?

Well, that was one of the many thoughts that were bouncing around in my head as I went to bed last night, but God in His goodness came to my rescue just before I turned out the light!  As is my habit, the last thing I do each night is to read something from or based on God’s Word.  When I looked at the small stack of books next to the bed, I felt the urge to read from the devotional book entitled “Jesus Calling” by Sarah Young.

Once my eyes fell on the first sentence of yesterday’s reading, I began to laugh and my heart instantly received a jolt of confidence and peace.  It read as if Jesus was speaking directly to me saying: “I am able to do far beyond all that you ask or imagine.  Come to Me with positive expectations, knowing that there is no limit to what I can accomplish.”

WOW!  What more can I say?  Our heavenly Father knows exactly what we need to hear, exactly when we need to hear it… especially when He is free to lead the way along the paths that He has initiated for us to follow!  As I studied along this direction in my study time this morning, I sensed that this was more than just a word for me, but for you as well!

Are you facing an uncertain future?  Are you being led to do things that you were not expecting?  Is your comfort zone being expanded?  Is the Lord leading you from comfort into contentment?  Well, if the answer is yes, then the Word for you can be found in Ephesians chapter three, verse 20.  In the midst of all your concerns know that YOUR loving heavenly Father God is able to do “exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us.” (NKJV)  I personally like the simplicity of the Message Bible where it declares that “God can do anything, you know --- far more than you could ever imagine or guess or request in your wildest dreams!”

Think on that for a moment or two!  There is NOTHING that God can’t do for you, and in fact, He will do even more than you can ever imagine in your wildest dreams!  If that doesn’t give you confidence and peace, then I don’t know what will!  Today as I pushed back from my desk and began to pray about my situation, the Lord added one important caveat to my concerns.  He brought to my remembrance Joshua 1:5 and told me to STOP seeing myself as being alone in all of this, for “I will NEVER neglect you or abandon you.” (God’s Word ©)

You know what?  God + You make up an unbeatable force!  It is the dynamic duo of your life that will always cause you to come to Him with positive expectations of His best in your life… whether you can see it at the time or not!  Have a good day today.  Stay in tune to His Word and keep asking yourself… “What am I expecting today?”