Comfort...

I recently bought a new blanket for my bed. It isn't fancy or expensive. It is warm and soft. I love soft. My sensitive skin loves soft.

On the other end of the spectrum, I love crunchy foods like crusty bread, toast, potato crisps, popcorn.

Chocolate was made for comfort. It even includes a natural ingredient that induces a sense of well being. My favorite books create the same feeling.

Milk, tomato soup and a grilled cheese sandwich, hot chocolate, warm chocolate chip cookies, cake in milk, petting a dog, watching a horse graze, my favorite Christian music artists, certain scents...

God created a world of things to provide comfort.

The paradox: God doesn't want us to be comfortable.

If God wanted us to be comfortable all the time, He would deliver us from evil before it tainted our lives. If He delivered us before we sinned, we wouldn't need a Savior.

Jesus Christ is the Savior, and His sacrifice saves me, providing the grace I need.

God wants us to become our best selves, by our own choice. Not because we are forced to do so, but because we choose to do so. By becoming our best selves, we bring added glory to Him. We can't diminish His glory, but we can add to it, as a child adds to a parent's joy. This whole life process isn't about Him. It's about us.

It's the Abraham and Isaac principle. Isaac was in his 30s when God commanded Abraham to sacrifice his son on the altar. Isaac could have overpowered Abraham to save himself. Both men agreed to follow God's command. Was it possible God didn't know what would happen? The all-knowing Heavenly Father?

Abraham sacrificing Isaac wasn't about Abraham and Isaac proving to God they would obey. Abraham agreeing to sacrifice Isaac and Isaac agreeing to being sacrificed was about Abraham and Isaac proving to themselves they would obey God no matter how difficult the task placed before them.

When I am in uncomfortable and difficult situations what is the lesson I'm being taught?

Did I stumble and fall and need my Savior's saving grace? Or is God giving me the opportunity to prove to myself I will do what He asks of me? I pray I choose God's side.