You know when you wake up on a Saturday morning and you feel completely content on your soft mattress, wrapped up in warm blankets with your pillow perfectly formed around your head? No part of you wants to get up because everything feels comfortable, cozy and familiar. Every bone in your body wants to bask in that comfort for as long as possible. I have often times wanted to experience that Saturday morning feeling again, however, this morning I experienced that feeling with polarizing circumstances. My bed is located against a window that directly faces where most of the children sleep. Therefore, my morning alarm consists of a range of coughs, excited chatter, pattering feet and the occasional finger through the bars of my window to feel my hair. On special occasions a stick, frog or comb may make its way through the window instead. As I wake up, I realize my pillow lays at my feet, my body is disproportionally distributed between my deflated sleeping bag and the hard floor, and part of my mosquito net is somehow wrapped around my left leg. Normally, I would wake up aching and irritated from my lack of sleep. However, this morning I woke up completely satisfied and wanting to stay exactly where I was for as long as possible. It wasn’t necessarily because I was content, but more because I have been experiencing the intensity of finding satisfaction in the Lord through losing certain comforts. These children have not experienced the coziness of a bed, presence and love of their biological parents, consistency in nutrition, clean water, physical health… the list continues. Despite these, they never hesitate to serve and show others love. Without the common comforts we as westerners have, these children are left with the greatest and most abundant comfort of all, God. If my desire is to find my complete satisfaction in Christ, then I should be willing to set aside any comfort that distracts me from doing so. This is so much easier said then done. It is easy to look at these children and feel sorry for them because they do not have the common comforts we experience daily. In reality, we are the ones missing out on experiencing the intimacy Christ offers, due to being distracted and enticed by our daily comforts. Through losing everyday comforts, I have not only experienced a much greater desire to know God, but satisfaction in enjoying Him alone. As I examine my daily comforts, I can recognize that I find satisfaction in my phone, having my own room and bed, parents that show me affection, feeling healthy, and much more. These things are not bad, but they can become bad when they get in the way of experiencing true fulfillment in Christ. The easy part is identifying the common comforts in my life, the hard part is actually taking action and removing or decreasing those comforts that I go to before God. If our soul purpose on earth is for Christ to be glorified, then we should eagerly and willing get rid of anything that distracts us from that. Our culture feeds us comforts and makes us feel like we need them. As Christians, it is easy to become stagnant in our relationships with the Lord because we allow these comforts to bring satisfaction before Jesus. Life is not about you and feeling comfortable. Life is about God being glorified and made known. Therefore, I challenge you to lose the comforts that take away from you experiencing complete satisfaction in God so that He is glorified.
