Comfort, Stress & Failure

I have come to understand that all of life is stressful. I know that sounds a bit trite, but hold on. Most of us, whether we realize it or not, think that life would be better if we were able to change our circumstances in one way or another. While that is true to some degree, we usually don't think of the new stress we gain from the new circumstances.

There is a stress to being poor and a stress to being rich, a stress to having a lot of responsibilities and a stress to being bossed around. None of us can escape it so we need to find a way to deal with it.

This is where comfort comes in. We all cope with the difficulties in life by seeking comfort. Sometimes, we receive comfort from God directly. Sometimes, it is through other people. Unfortunately, we are also constantly tempted to find comfort in unhealthy ways - for example: food, sex, alcohol, drugs, recreation, television, sports, etc.

Some of these are clearly wrong in themselves, while others seem more benign. The issue is whether our seeking comfort strengthens us to face the stress better or is merely an escape to avoid the stress. Perhaps an afternoon watching a movie is a good thing when you are feeling down. A nightly television zombie-zone because life is so overwhelming is probably not the way God wants us to be comforted.

I think many Christian leaders who have fallen are victims of unhealthy comfort. I do not want to excuse their behavior, nor do I want to say it was not sin. I do want to highlight that they are often subject to a level of stress and spiritual warfare that most of us do not encounter. I wonder if they had had healthy mechanisms for comfort built into their lives whether all of the leaders would have fallen.

In 1 Sam 30, David had just lost his whole family and possessions to Amalekite raiders. To make matters worse, all of his followers did, too, and they were talking of stoning David. In the midst of this great stress, we see in verse 6 that David found strength in the Lord.

God is the God of all comfort (2 Cor 3) and it is He who is our strength. The question is whether we will choose Him as our source of comfort or run after other things.

The Love of God versus the Love of Human Beings

The love of God and the natural love of human beings is of such different quality that it is hard to call them by the same word. God's love flows out of who He is. It is not based on anything about us - it is unconditional, yet fully emotional. Our love, on the other hand, is based on the object of our love, not on who we are. We love some people more than others because of what they mean to us. Therefore, our love always has an element of selfishness to it. This distinction between the basis of God's love versus our love is huge. This is especially true since our hearts are deceitful above all else (Jer 17:9). As a result, we walk through life with a selfish love and with a heart that is constantly trying to justify and deceive ourselves about our motives.

On the other hand, when we experience the love of the Father and walk in His love, all of our love needs are so completely and overflowingly met that we can love without any hidden motive or agenda. It is a freely given, genuine love that is based on the love we have, not the love we want. Just as apart from Christ we can do nothing (and yet we actually do a lot of things, just nothing that matters), apart from the love of the Father, we cannot love (although we can express the best human imitation of the love God wants us to walk in).

Why we don't seek His presence

I am more and more convinced that people do not experience the presence of God more for the following reasons (no particular order):

1. They were never taught how.

2. They were never taught to value the presence of God.

3. They feel unworthy, rejected, condemned or otherwise shunned by God and undeserving of His love.

4. They are so busy serving God that they miss out on being with Him.

5. They prefer a lower level of intimacy due to fear or control issues.

I'm sure there are more reasons. Maybe I will add to the list later.

Another ginosko (See March 13, 2009 post)

In John 17:3, Jesus says:

"This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent."

The word in the Greek for "know" is ginosko. So what Jesus is saying here is that eternal life is not found in an intellectual understanding of God, but in an intimate knowing of Him. It is a relationship thing - not an intellectual or performance thing.

Being in the Presence of God

When Jesus says to abide in Him, it is easy to focus on His command to us. What we can miss in the process is that Jesus is also revealing that it is His desire to be with us. In effect, the command to abide in Him is not so much a command as it is an invitation. Jesus wants us to experience His presence in an on-going way and He invites us to participate in that very thing. Why? Because He wants to experience our presence.

Knowing God and Knowing God

It is a bit of a shame that English has only one major word for knowing. In the Greek of the New Testament, there are two main words, oida and ginosko. Oida refers to knowing something through an intellectual apprehension of the subject. Ginosko, in contrast, carries with it a sense of experientially knowing something.

So, when the Gospels say that Joseph was not intimate with Mary until after Jesus was born, they say that Joseph did not know (ginosko) her. Likewise, when the woman with the issue of blood felt that she was healed and when Jesus felt the healing power leave him, in both cases, the word used is ginosko. Both the woman and Jesus knew what had occurred not by an intellectual understanding, but by the experience of what just happened.

1 Jn 3:6 states (in part): No one who continues to sin has either seen him or known him.

This verse is puzzling until we understand that the word for know in this verse is ginosko. What John is saying is that the way to overcome sin is to have a life-changing experience of the presence and love of God - to know God by an intimate experience, not just intellectually.

This truth highlights that being a Christian is all about experiencing the love and presence of God. Everything else in the Christian life is the natural result of having developed the habit of being in His presence in a significant, experiential way.

The Problem of Defining God

It is difficult to engage God with our minds unless we establish some framework for conceiving of Him or understanding Him. The problem, however, with trying to understand God is that He is beyond our understanding. As a result, any way we conceive of Him will of necessity limit our understanding of who He is to our definition, even though He is far greater than any definition. Perhaps that is why in the Old Testament He gave the enigmatic answer for who He is: "I AM." Anything else would have placed an artificial limitation on who He is.