Comfortable

Amos 6:1 AMP Woe to those who are comfortable and at ease in Zion.

There is an enemy of every believer. One that is subtle, inviting, and even considered the life goal for many. The world entices us with it, advertises it as a milestone achievement, and shames those who fall short of reaching it. There is absolutely nothing wrong with success and enjoying the fruit of our labor, but comfort can quickly overtake our spiritual lives and leave us spiritually lazy.

God graciously provides seasons of peace, stability, rest, and blessings. However, comfort becomes spiritually dangerous when it weakens our dependence on Him, dulls our sensitivity to His voice, and causes us to become satisfied with a faith that no longer earnestly seeks God’s presence. Something that began as a blessing can slowly become a barrier when we stop seeking the Lord with the same humility, urgency, and devotion we once had.

In Revelation Chapters 2-3 there are letters to 7 different churches providing both encouragement and admonition. To the Church of Ephesus, “You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name and have not grown weary. Yet I hold this against you: You have left your first love. Repent and return to the things you did at first.” (Revelation 2:3-5). To the Church of Laodicea: “Because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth. You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’” (Revelation 3:16-17). In both cases, they had become comfortable, complacent, and at ease. Ephesus had forgotten the spiritual disciplines that had molded and shaped them. God’s instruction was to repent and do the thing you did at first; don’t foolishly think you have moved beyond the need to stay grounded in God’s truth. Laodicea had become ‘self-sufficient,’ believing they were in need of nothing. Yet this is exactly the life goal for many of us.

When King Nebuchadnezzar took Israel captive, he didn’t immediately force his ways and ideologies on the best, brightest, and most fit of Israel (Daniel 1:4). He took them in and fed them from the king’s table—the best wine and food available—and taught them the language and literature of the Babylonians, educating them in His ways for a period of three years. He worked to make them comfortable, forgetting that they were under the captivity of an enemy and accepting everything as the new normal. Then when the command to bow before the Babylonian idols came, there were only three who remembered who they were and God’s commands to worship no other gods before me.

What makes spiritual comfort and complacency so dangerous is they don’t announce themselves through obvious rebellion. You still believe the Bible, attend church, and try hard to be a good person. Yet somewhere along the way, familiarity has replaced wonder, routine has replaced pursuit, and comfort has quieted spiritual hunger. Jesus said, “Blessed are those that hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled” (Matthew 5:6). Not blessed are those that achieve fame and fortune.

Psalm 86:11 states, “Teach me your way, Lord, that I may rely on your faithfulness; give me an undivided heart, that I may fear your name.” God is calling us to completely rely on His faithfulness, to follow Him with an undivided heart that accepts no other source of love, joy, truth, peace, mercy, grace, and contentment. God is looking for those who reject the world’s enticement to trust in anything but Him, our first love. God is calling you to a life of reliance—apart from Him, we can do nothing (John 15:5).

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Gary and Sandy Anthony

John 15:5 NIV I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.

Deuteronomy 8:2-3 NIV Remember how the Lord your God led you all the way in the wilderness these forty years, to humble and test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands. He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your ancestors had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.

Philippians 4:11-13 NIV I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do all this through him who gives me strength.

Matthew 6:30-33 NIV If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, What shall we eat? or What shall we drink? or What shall we wear? For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.

Psalm 84:11 ESV For the LORD God is a sun and shield; the LORD bestows favor and honor. No good thing does he withhold from those who walk uprightly.

Revelation 3:15-17 NIV I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth. You say, I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing. But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked.

Luke 12:16-21 GNT Then Jesus told them this parable: There was once a rich man who had land which bore good crops. He began to think to himself, I don't have a place to keep all my crops. What can I do? This is what I will do, he told himself; I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, where I will store the grain and all my other goods. Then I will say to myself, Lucky man! You have all the good things you need for many years. Take life easy, eat, drink, and enjoy yourself! But God said to him, You fool! This very night you will have to give up your life; then who will get all these things you have kept for yourself? And Jesus concluded, this is how it is with those who pile up riches for themselves but are not rich in God's sight.

Zephaniah 1:12 GNT At that time I will take a lamp and search Jerusalem. I will punish the people who are self-satisfied and confident, who say to themselves, ‘The Lord never does anything, one way or the other.

Exodus 19:5-6 NIV Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.

Romans 8:31-32 NLT What shall we say then? If God is for us, who can ever be against us? Since he did not spare even his own Son but gave him up for us all, won’t he also give us everything else?

Psalm 121:1-2 BSB I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.