I know those words sound like they shouldn\u2019t be put together. One of them is positive, connoting good feelings and emotions; the other harsh, abrupt and merciless.<\/p>\n
But to be honest, there\u2019s no better way to describe it. And I don\u2019t think I\u2019ve ever understood it as well as I do now.<\/p>\n
Comfort kills. It\u00a0does<\/em>, if you let it.<\/p>\n Owning a car isn\u2019t a given in the majority of the world, it\u2019s a comfort. Yet it kills our need to walk somewhere instead of getting in the car and driving there, even if our destination is close. Not to mention the fumes that fill the air and kill clean oxygen.<\/p>\n TV\u2019s and computers kill time, calculators kill mental math skills, air conditioners kill balanced humidity levels, and dishwashers, washing machines and pressure cookers kill knowledge of doing it any other way.<\/p>\n Electronic books kill the need for libraries and virtual communication kills the need for physical relationships.<\/p>\n And the list goes on\u2026 but those things don\u2019t worry me.\u00a0 They\u2019re inevitable in our day and age, and quite a blessing to those who have them.<\/p>\n What worries me is what I\u2019ve noticed inside of<\/em> me. The cravings, desires and feelings I feel. The wants and the needs that change once my surroundings change.<\/p>\n Once I\u2019m away from the hurt and the pain on the faces of passerby, the dust and the dirt and the flies sitting on meat. Away from the sounds of children playing on broken swings, dogs barking and angry men fighting. Away from feeling the joy that comes from biting into my favorite cookies after a year of not having them. Away from the heat that drains me of energy yet forces me to keep moving forward. Away from honking cars that startle me. Away from having to watch my use of Christian vocabulary in public and from having to worry about the pickpocket standing next to me on the ever-crowded bus as I travel home.<\/p>\n Away from the utter dependency and absolute reliance on my Father.<\/p>\n When the comfort creeps in, and I see smiling faces and overstocked shelves, bursting closets and fancy shoes. Packaged meat and scrubbed-clean vegetables, busy restaurants and full stomachs. Big, fancy churches lining beautiful streets and parking lots boasting expensive vehicles.<\/p>\n And I don\u2019t even realize how it\u2019s all slowly killing me. Killing my urgent need to pray. Killing my sense of satisfaction in Him and substituting it for temporary things. Killing my desires to wake up early and come bowing in worship, come to the One who gives peace when it\u2019s absent and rest when it\u2019s rare. The One who fills the void and wipes the tears that fall with others who suffer pain.<\/p>\n And I know that something\u2019s wrong. I\u2019m the one letting<\/em> the comfort kill.<\/p>\n It doesn\u2019t matter where you live, in luxury or in poverty.<\/p>\n Because the visible comfort only masks<\/em> the raw pain that unites us humans. It creates a sense of security, of happiness and bliss. It paints a picture of contentment and satisfaction that disguises reality. But on the inside, we will always be empty until we come to be filled.<\/strong><\/p>\n What really<\/em> matters is how much you allow the earthly comfort to influence your eternal soul.<\/p>\n Because ultimately, it\u2019s not about comfort.<\/p>\n It\u2019s about the Comforter<\/em>.<\/strong><\/p>\n And every comfort on this Earth is meaningless in comparison to what He gives.<\/p>\n If then you have been raised with Christ, seek\u00a0the things that are above, where Christ is,\u00a0seated at the right hand of God.<\/span>\u00a0Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.<\/span>\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Colossians 3:1-2<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I know those words sound like they shouldn\u2019t be put together. One of them is positive, connoting good feelings and emotions; the other harsh, abrupt and merciless. But to be honest, there\u2019s no better way to describe it. And I don\u2019t think I\u2019ve ever understood it as well as I do now. Comfort kills. It\u00a0does, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":483,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[17,21],"class_list":["post-482","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-faith-inspiration","tag-lessons-learned"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/shcherbans.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/482","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/shcherbans.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/shcherbans.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shcherbans.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shcherbans.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=482"}],"version-history":[{"count":16,"href":"https:\/\/shcherbans.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/482\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":512,"href":"https:\/\/shcherbans.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/482\/revisions\/512"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shcherbans.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/483"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/shcherbans.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=482"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shcherbans.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=482"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shcherbans.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=482"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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