Intolerance to Uncomfortable

Winter reminds me of my intolerance to being uncomfortable. Specifically, to being cold. As you might imagine, the past two days have not been my favorite thing.

It is my broken, worldly nature leading me to believe I should not be uncomfortable. I can come up with a long list of things I “deserve”. I “deserve” to have things go my way. I “deserve” to be warm. I “deserve” to not be inconvenienced. I “deserve” to get what I want.

None of this is true. The only thing I actually deserve Jesus took for me. “But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed.” Isaiah 53:5

We all tend to forget this world is not our home. Today is not all there is. Jesus warned us in John 17:33, “in this world you will have trouble”. He also instructs us to “deny (our)selves and take up (our) cross and follow” him in Matthew 16:24. He then goes on to say, “For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it” (v. 25).

Our priority cannot be comfort as the world defines comfort. We cannot prioritize the things we feel we “deserve” over the work God is doing in and through us. In this fallen and broken world, trouble is inevitable. The only thing we can control is how we respond to the “trouble” - the discomforts, the disappointments, the setbacks. Handling these in complete surrender and trust is a component of “denying” ourselves. Submitting to God’s sovereignty in faith despite how things appear is what Paul means when he says, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” (Phil 4:13).