Comfort in Jesus
I’ve been thinking about comfort, eternity, and Jesus. I don’t know quite where this will end up but sometimes you just have to start writing and hope things aren’t completely hosed in the end…
As Christians, we have a “blessed hope” - a hope which looks forward to Christ’s return and to the restoration of creation. Understandably, this is a source of comfort as we face the hardships and trials of life. We know that there is a final justice. We know that at some point we will be in God’s presence in a “fuller” sense than we experience now.
But this kind of thinking carried too far can lead to comfort which basically ignores the very real situations we find ourselves facing in the present. We’ve all heard the sincere but ultimately unsatisfying variations on “We’ll understand it all by and by”, “It will be better soon” or admonitions to squeeze out just a little more faith.
What’s the answer? I think I’ll defer to Saint Rich on this one :
That ain’t nothing to be ashamed of
I know there’s bound to come some tears up in your eyes
That ain’t no reason to fear
I know there’s bound to come some tears up in your eyes
Reach out to Jesus, hold on tight
He’s been there before and He knows what it’s like
You’ll find He’s there
Now, People say maybe things will get better
People say maybe it won’t be long
And people say maybe you’ll wake up tomorrow
And it’ll all be gone
Well I only know that maybes just ain’t enough
When you need something to hold on
There’s only one thing that’s clear
I know there’s bound to come some trouble to your life
But that ain’t nothing to be afraid of
I know there’s bound to come some tears up in your eyes
That ain’t no reason to fear
I know there’s bound to come some trouble to your life
Reach out to Jesus, hold on tight
He’s been there before and He knows what it’s like
You’ll find He’s there
(from Bound to Come Some Trouble)
Your 5yo is right - the answer is always Jesus. He has been through what we’ve been through. He is with us in the now, and later, and always. I don’t think this means the tough times get any less tough. But with Jesus we are able to get through them and learn how utterly dependent on Him we are - or should be.
So how do we do this? How do we “reach out to Jesus” in times of trouble. Honestly, I’m still not quite sure. I think that at some point we just have to recognize our need and call for help. We have to realize that our own strength is not enough and squelch whatever pride says that it is. And we have to stop beating ourselves up when we don’t live up to model “churchianity” which makes “peace” the litmus test how mature our faith is… That might need to be another post in itself.
I’m still trying to figure this out. Any comments are more than welcome.
