Invitation to COMFORT: | Comfort Ye My People | Advent Series #5,

Have you ever considered the world’s troubles a search for comfort? This can be observed everywhere in daily life. Whether on a deserted island or a 4x6 cubical humans work to keep their comfort. Even in trench warfare, men worked to create as much comfort for themselves as possible. Often this pursuit has led individuals and entire nations down a devastating path. Making comfort our aim can be deadly! But thinking of the issues we face through this lens has merit. No matter which field of knowledge we study, at the bottom lies this innate need to find an answer, the answer, to man’s profound need. Why study Biology? History, Technology, Psychology, Religion, Philosophy, Astronomy, Language, Medicine, Law, Pleasure, Abuse, or Addiction if not to find answers for ourselves? These answers, we believe, will help us, heal us, honor us, and though some comfort has been achieved; comfort has not been realized for us. This is why all of life and knowledge is religious at the core, they all deal with man’s desperate need for deliverance. When comforted we are assured that all is well, we understand, are safe, and live with meaning, purpose, and reward every day. In Isaiah 52 and 53 readers are encouraged to be comforted because God redeems without money. We have talked a lot about ‘comfort’ but let’s make sure we are speaking the same language. Now, be careful not to think of the word ‘comfort’ in Isaiah in the way many people today do. The general population of Americans, if asked, would most likely define comfort in terms of relaxation, vacation, and recreation. These are pleasure words. They are related to comfort but only on the surface level. Relaxation, vacation, and recreation do not accomplish for us the ultimate rest, peace, and transformation for which we seek.