Your soul will find comfort, even in discomfort and pain, when you lay down the burden of being the master of your own fate and captain of your own soul and rest in belonging to Christ. Your soul will rest comfortably when Christ is your only comfort, hope, and joy in life and death.

Life has a way of making us feel uncomfortable. I once attended a summer wedding in a farm meadow. It was oppressively hot and humid that day. It wasn’t the best day to wear a black suit. I chose poorly. I was uncomfortable. I’ve had pneumonia twice. Take it from me, pneumonia is uncomfortable. I’ve had an MRI on my head and chose the wrong music station. Lying still in a loud claustrophobic’s nightmare while your brain is being scanned and regrettable music is playing is uncomfortable. God was gracious. No tumor. That was comforting. When a tractor-trailer crashed into our backyard fence where my sons sometimes play, I thought for a moment my sons might have been killed. That was very uncomfortable. I’ve battled besetting sins and lost. Succumbing to temptation is uncomfortable.

You’ve felt uncomfortable too. Sometimes your discomfort was physical. Other times, it was spiritual. And during those times, you felt a strong desire to be comfortable. What did you crave? What did you turn to for comfort?

Think about it. What gives you comfort? What do you expect to soothe you? Your hands enfolding a cup of coffee? Savoring a piece of chocolate cake or two? Falling into the loving embrace of your spouse? Sitting beside a crackling fire in your favorite sweater with a good book in hand? There are many pleasures in this life that do give wonderful comfort, and we ought to enjoy them, but are they sufficient comforts for life’s challenges, struggles, and pain?

Search the world over, and you’ll find few statements more true and profound than Heidelberg Catechism one. It’s like a warm blanket of gospel truth for a chilled soul. The Heidelberg Catechism begins by asking a great question about comfort, which everyone desires. It asks, “What is your only comfort in life and death?” I don’t think this question ignores the reality of earthly comforts properly enjoyed, but I do think it searches for the exclusive comfort that truly and wholly comforts the soul, a comfort that transcends competing comforts. Let’s face it, when we are living with chronic pain or breathing our last breaths, chocolate cake can’t even begin to calm our fear and anxiety or infuse our soul with true peace!

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