Comfort

SUN., JAN. 28, 1990, 6:36 AM
FARM, STUDY

Comfort was what you yearned for, as you stayed in your warm bed beyond the time of arising for this Teaching that you had set. You like comfort, and this like does hinder your accomplishment of certain tasks. Yet I also know that you still retain some inclinations to eschew comfort and pursue the rugged path. For you, I encourage this.

I am not against comfort. The earth was designed as a place for comfortable living for humans. (Scientific study of the origin of the earth will never come to this conclusion.) There are places in the earth where virtually every day is a day of comfort. But such places could not support the population which I now notice in the earth. Such a population is possible only because humans were and are willing to give up comfort for other values.

So, yes, here’s that hoary old spiritual principle appearing again: giving up something good for something better. Comfort is good, but to be an adaptable human you must be willing to give it up for a greater good. You are experiencing a mild winter, but there still is a comfort in remaining in your warm bed rather than sitting in a cooler room and receiving a Teaching such as this. Coming to Me is always the higher value… in relation to comfort, Always.

Then there is spiritual comfort, and here the values are mixed. You know, by now, the comfort that comes from completing a Teaching… from seeing the completed pages and then reading the text, which in itself may be comforting (though not always). But then there is the discomfort that is present because of the unorthodox nature of this meditation and your knowledge that many of your family, friends, colleagues, students, and fellow Christians question the truth of what We do together. Therefore you miss opportunities of sharing spiritual insights that I give you with some others… because “it isn’t comfortable.”

At a deeper level, however, I know that you are comfortable with the theology and the view of life that I have encouraged you to have. You read of demons and the devil, and you are comfortable in being beyond such conflict, even as you realize that there is a Scriptural base for such an interpretation of life in the earth. Continue with comfort in the knowledge that the rule of satan is a true myth, even as it contains important truth. The truth is that the earth was designed by Me, as Almighty God, as a place or realm for spiritual growth and service. Satan is one of My rather unwilling helpers in this “cause.”

You show forth a good degree of comfort in your balance between wanting to be better than you are in many respects AND in begin satisfied with who you are and with what you have. Focus more on what you are accomplishing than on your perceived deficiencies. I want you to be basically comfortable with your life.

Still, as long as you are alive and functioning in the earth the comfort you have may be challenged. Any such challenge will be a test of your spiritual development. It could be economic collapse… or loss of your health… or a professional problem… there are many ways your comfort could be disturbed. Know, however, that while part of such discomfort can be genuine and expected, you know that you are ultimately safe and comfortable with your hand in Mine.

Losses in earth life are all ultimately tests of faith and “comfort in Me.” They can appear to be exceedingly real and incredibly serious, but I say, patiently and repeatedly, “Be not overcome by this world. The only final reality is relationship with Me. In this is final and eternal comfort.”