Comfortability vs. Spirituality
A few nights ago, I asked the Lord to give me a New Testament Scripture to read. Eventually, the thought of “Mark 5” came floating into my mind. I won’t recount the entire story here, but by all means, I encourage you to look it up and read all of the details! In this chapter, Mark retells the encounter of Jesus healing a demon-possessed man and casting those demons into a herd of pigs that they then drowned. What caught my attention is the part of the story in which the townspeople ask Jesus to leave once they find out about these workings. Verses 15-17 read as this:
15 When they came to Jesus, they saw the man who had been possessed by the legion of demons, sitting there, dressed and in his right mind; and they were afraid.
16 Those who had seen it told the people what had happened to the demon-possessed man—and told about the pigs as well.
17 Then the people began to plead with Jesus to leave their region.”
Isn’t it crazy that Jesus just did this beautiful, miraculous, HEALING work in that man’s life, and instead of being praised and thanked by these witnesses, they asked Him to get out?
Yet, is this not an exact picture of what we tend to do whenever we’re uncomfortable with the way in which the Lord is working in our lives?
The thing about Jesus is that He IS a way-maker and a miracle-worker, but in order to be these things, He also has to be a disrupter of the familiar. Think about it: how can anything be deemed a “miracle” or “supernatural” if it isn’t out of the ordinary or what’s expected?
Our flesh is naturally inclined towards comforting itself. For example, what’s your first instinct whenever you’re outside and it’s bitter cold? To go and grab a coat! (unless you’re just “built different” and will never be caught in anything other than summer gear, lol!). We want to be comfortable, and this isn’t a bad thing until we sacrifice the supernatural workings of the Lord in our lives. He is supernatural and we are not; to experience the Lord truly working supernaturally in our lives, we must start believing in and prayerfully requesting freedom from the natural constraints of our thinking/understanding because it can limit our faith.
Moreover, God is our source of comfort, not ourselves. He knows that the circumstances of our lives are not always stable, and we are not in control of everything that happens to us; therefore, He willingly serves as our steadfast Anchor if we take refuge in Him. We are not our own savior, for we did not even create ourselves; however, Jesus Christ is our Savior, Creator, and desires to take His place on the throne of our lives so that He can step in and be everything to and for us… so that we can be truly comforted, cared for, and sustained as He intended.
The power of Christ is more than enough to see you through, to bring breakthrough; it was never about you or your limited capabilities. Here are the questions, though: Are you going to allow Him to stretch the limits of your comprehension? Are you willing to believe that whatever He does in your life is going to lead you to a deeper recognition and blessing of His goodness, glory, and love upon you, even while your human mind does not quite get it? Lastly, will you invite the Lord to expand your knowledge of who He is?
If you answered “yes” to any of these, then get ready to be both uncomfortable in your flesh and richly comforted by the Holy Spirit drawing you deeper into the supernatural presence of God.
“Comfort, comfort my people, says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and cry to her that her warfare is ended, that her iniquity is pardoned, that she has received from the Lord's hand double for all her sins.” - Isaiah 40:1-2
“The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace.” - Romans 8:6
