Comfort vs. Comfortability

(This is not the room mentioned in this post, just a picture from Google images)

Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.- Romans 5:3-4

We have all had that hotel experience that we will always remember. My one experience came two years ago when I took my wife to Chincoteague Island to see the wild horses cross over the bay. It was an amazing experience worth every penny, but the night before was the night from, well, you know.

It all started with us arriving at the hotel. The first sign it wasn’t going to end up well is when the pool was dirty, people were on lawn chairs by the dirty pool, and I felt like Daniel arriving at his new apartment in Reseda in the Karate Kid. It only got better! We entered the room; we set our bags down, and moved the blankets back and found hair in the bed – not any kind of hair, but DOG hair. Then, while watching TV, out of the corner of our eyes we saw a cockroach cruising the wall antennas waving as if it was welcoming us. We left…quickly.

The problem was there were no vacancies and we had to wake up in 4 hours to get to the boat for our day trip. We were tired, we were grossed out, and we were waiting for our GPS to lead us to a magic hotel. We finally found a hotel with a room available. It was a hotel with trash on the walkway, dirty walls, and the roach from the previous hotel had his family cemetery just around the corner from our room. Yeah, we had to settle. We searched the room for any welcoming committee lurking around the corner and checked the bed. Everything was clear; so we fell asleep uneasy, knowing we had to wake up 3 hours later. The rest of the trip was amazing and worth everything we went through that very first night.

That entire story to get to the point of our faith walk: Jesus came to bring comfort, but never promised comfortability. We found comfort in that second room. We found a bed we could sleep in, but we definitely didn’t sleep comfortably. We had to experience something rough to get to that great experience on the boat.

This is our faith experience. Jesus said we would have trouble in this world, but He also said He would bring comfort. Our discomfort is going to come, but Christ promised He will give us peace. Even in the worst circumstances you will find comfort in Christ, but it doesn’t mean the situation will instantly become comfortable. However, it does mean you can rest knowing that through cockroaches and hair in the bed, there is an amazing experience coming in an unknown hour. This is how we find comfort in our discomfort.