The Struggle To Be Comfortable
/“Jesus replied, “Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.””
Jesus said that the very things He created had places to call their own but He didn't. The life of the Son of man was not focused on the things of this life that we think of as important, so much so that He lived without His own house or home. When He was to come into this world His mother and father knew of this feeling, for "there was no room for him in the inn." (Luke 2:7) Jesus did not even have something of His own, He was even "rejected by those who were suppose to be His own."(John 1:11) Think about this for a moment. Let it not escape you. The Lord (Boss) of All creation, no wait not just The Lord, but the One who brought forth all creation by the sound of His voice and the work of His hand. He had not a home, He was not accepted by His own people.
We like to think that Jesus was loved by everyone, fun to be around and the life of the party. If we were in school, He would have been the odd man out so to speak. Isaiah the Prophet declared this characteristic about the coming messiah, "He has no stately form of majesty that we should look upon Him, nor appearance that we should be attracted to Him. He was despised and forsaken of men, a man of SORROWS, and acquainted with GRIEF". (Isaiah 53:2-3) This tells me that it was Prophesied about Jesus to have a difficult life, a life of not just knowing SORROWS, but a man who had gone through so much it became His identity. It is a cop out to downplay what Jesus endured and encountered during His time here on earth by saying "Well He is God, and I am not."
I sit in this foreign country where I am unfamiliar with the customs, language and way of life and I am frustrated and starting to become bitter. We are staying at a Pastor's house who is also my father-in-law. It is nearly the polar opposite of the kind of comfort I grew accustomed to in the US. There are lots of kids who come in and out, there are family friends who stop by and act as though they live there. What is mine is yours in this society and I am not used to it. It is nothing to step out of my room to use the restroom and find some people laying on the ground that I have never seen before. It has just thrown me for a loop. It is one thing to share a house with someone, but to constantly share with someone you have never met and yet are suppose to welcome them and treat them like they are your little brother, or older aunt. It is tough. Not only that, but they ignore you simply because you don't known their language, and they don't know yours. Hard, lonely, uneasy and uncomfortable.
I began to think that I would like to have a couch; I would like to have A/C; I would like to have a room set aside for a office, or a western style bathroom, I would like to have a yard with some privacy; I think I would like to have my own house. As I pondered these feelings I began to think about how hard it is on me, not only ministry-wise, but in my daily living activities. Anger, frustration, and even evil thoughts (Whatever is not in line with God's heart) began to set in and come out. I needed to pray so I grabbed my Bible and asked to be helped and shown freedom from this and maybe experience some sort of comfort. I opened to 2 Peter 1 and read the following:
“Through these He has given us His very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.”
He has given us precious promises so that we can partake in the divine nature and escape the lust for the things of this world. Truly to be Godly is to know that your God was a man of Sorrows, He understands, and desires you, even though you may endure sorrow, to still be focused, and holy. Not falling into the trap that the flesh sets up as a way to ensnare us to the things of this world. The desire to be comfortable flees once we realize that He became so uncomfortable to bring us to Him and that, if even for a season, it is ok for us to become the same. For we will be in great company.
