One of life’s most sought after human experiences is comfort. When we face difficult and troubling circumstances, our instinctual response is to seek comfort. And that’s a good thing! We’re designed with a need to experience comfort. However, somewhere along the way, we’ve come to mistake our need to experience comfort with an expectation to live in a state of comfort.
This is no better illustrated than by observing the pharmaceutical industry. According to the National Library of Medicine, big pharma generates more than $1.5 trillion dollars a year. Of those, benzodiazepines are among the industry’s top-selling prescription drug. Benzodiazepines relieve anxiety by raising the level of the inhibitory neurotransmitter GABA in the brain. There are currently 94 million prescriptions for various benzodiazepines in the U.S. alone — nearly one prescription for every three people.
Difficulty in this life is inevitable. We’re guaranteed to encounter adversity. We’re told this world will involve trouble (John 16:33b). Yet, we worship a God that offers deliverance from adversity (Psalm 50:15b), who promises to lift up those who mourn (Job 5:11) and identifies himself as a refuge to those in times of trouble (Psalm 46:1). What then should be our relationship with difficulty? How might we relate with God amidst adversity? And what can we expect from God in the midst of our trouble?
Join us this Sunday as we reflect on the God of all comfort (2 Corinthians 1:3). We’ll consider together what it looks like to seek the God of all comfort; not from our difficulty and trouble, but amidst our difficulty and trouble.
THE PATH — PRACTICES IN NOTICING
In the week ahead, remember Paul’s instruction: “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort.”
– 2 Corinthians 1:3
PRACTICE PERSONALLY
Throughout your day, notice moments you feel particularly troubled. Within that moment, invite the God of all comfort to greet you in your trouble; not to take away your trouble, but to be your comfort amidst your trouble.
PRACTICE COMMUNALLY
Share with a group (or individual) in the Platt Park community how you are experiencing the God of all comfort. Is it tangible and clear? Is it seemingly absent and obscure? Pay special attention to your desire to change or redirect another person’s experience of God amidst trouble.
PRACTICE WITH CHILDREN
Cultivate compassionate conversations with your family. Share together the troubles in life you would historically seek to fix, and instead, describe what it’s like to settle into God’s comforting arms amidst them. In the week ahead, remember Paul’s instruction: “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort.”
– 2 Corinthians 1:3