Finding Comfort when You Slip

3/27/2019

Wooosh! This is a tough one. It is one thing to seek God's comfort when we are under trial or tribulation, but it is quite another when we need comfort as a result of our own wayward actions and missteps.

Maybe you said something or did something hurtful to someone. Maybe you stole something or betrayed someone you love. Maybe you are controlled by your anger instead of demonstrating self-control and patience. Maybe you are tempted to find comfort for all life's problems in food or cigarettes or sex or drugs or shopping or over working or you name it. Perhaps you are in a painful cycle of addiction. Maybe you slipped but didn't mean to--you simply weren't paying attention.

We've all made poor choices. We can certainly be our own worst enemies after we fall. Plus we are hurting and may be a bit disoriented. We've lost our balance. We feel positively wretched about the ordeal, not to mention there may be a slew of other negative consequences staring us right in the face.

We convince ourselves that we are beyond God's reach. We are too embarrassed and ashamed to seek Him. We don't have the strength to turn toward Him. So we run away or ignore the problem all together.

The kind of comfort we are in most need of during these times is commonly called grace.

Picture Jesus as our Good Shepherd with His rod and staff: a rod, yes for punishment, but also for correcting and guiding and a staff to support and protect. The Psalmist says: "Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me" (Psalm 23:4). Our sinful choices can take us to some pretty dark places, but we are never beyond God's reach.

We are His children.

But there is more to it than receiving the unmerited grace that God so freely gives us, especially when we have besetting or recurring sin. We also have to take ownership of the problem, confess the issue, repent of it, resist the enemy and renounce it once and for all. We can then expect the restoration of our spirit and soul. [Talk about gratitude!]

"Do not rejoice over me, O my enemy.
Though I fall I will rise;
Though I dwell in darkness,
the LORD is a light for me."
Micah 7:8

So maybe today you find yourself a bit battle weary or war torn, and you are ready to admit that you want lasting comfort. There's really only one way to find it: GOD.

And remember--when we have God, we have the Father, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit (our divine Comforter). God the Father who sent His son to die for these very sins--what love!, Jesus who understands our temptations and waywardness and submitted to a brutal death, and the Holy Spirit who was given to us as a gift to help us now, this moment, when we have a need.

Do you call upon the Spirit for comfort? Do you ask for help? Do you want it, really want it?

God will not force comfort upon us; rather He will offer us the dignity to chose it. And with comfort we find love. And with love we find life. And in this life, may we start with a grateful heart as we dust ourselves up to rise again. Then with God's help and guidance, let's position ourselves to be mindful of finishing this race on our feet.

“My foot has slipped,”
Your lovingkindness, O LORD, will hold me up.
(Psalm 94:18)