Seeking Comfort in the Arms of a Lover

Oh, relax. It's not that kind of a blog!

Today is the kind of day that makes me want to start singing the Friends theme song. "So no one told you life was gonna be this way...[clap clap clap clap clap]"  (You know you do the claps too.) I know, my job isn't a joke, I'm not really broke and I have a family full of love. It's just one of those days where the skies are grey and everyone is a little crabby and we are facing the potential of all being pulled under the weather (which isn't all that great to begin with). 

On a day like today, comfort is the name of the game. So often in life we face these kinds of days, perhaps harder days where the Friends theme song really does resonate. I certainly went through those days in earlier years, and I didn't always seek comfort in the best places. Stemming from a deep desire to be proven worthy of being loved, most of my teenage years were spent pining about being more popular or getting a boyfriend. This continued well into my twenties for the search of the boyfriend/husband, though popularity morphed into professional aspirations without much thought to whether the track I was on was really the right path for me. 

At lower times of my life, I turned not only to the search for a boyfriend, but also to the bottle. When we have lost a vision of who we are and to whom we belong, we search for love and comfort anywhere. I am so thankful my indiscretions did not permanently damage my life or that of anyone around me (I hope). I am thankful I didn't end up dependent on my false attachments, though they certainly led me in less than admirable directions. I am thankful that my Lover continued to woo me and never lets me go. I am so very thankful that Jesus not only came running after me, but continues to pick me up and embrace me time and time again. As I grow closer to Him, I realize that His arms are where true comfort lies. Sure, the Hubs arms are great too, but only a temporary balm for this world. For complete comfort, it is Jesus whose arms I need to run to, whose cross I kneel at, and who, as the Word of God, tells me what I need to hear. 

I truly hope that my own daughter (or son for that  matter) doesn't ever wander down destructive paths to seek comfort and love. I pray that we are able to instill in her a deep friendship and love of the Lord so she knows what I learned much later - He is everything. In Him we find rest and our own identity. I pray that she can develop the habit of turning to the Word when she is lost or sad or just having one of those days. Comfort verses are so important - they are like the fried chicken and mashed potatoes of our soul. Here are a just a few of my comfort verses for days when I'd rather just pull the covers back up and press the restart button.

Psalm 139 in its entirety, but especially

"Where can I go from your spirit? Or where can I flee from your presence? If I ascend to heaven, you are there; if I make my bed in Sheol, you are there. If I take the wings of the morning and settle at the farthest limits of the sea, even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me fast. If I say, ‘Surely the darkness shall cover me, and the light around me become night’, even the darkness is not dark to you; the night is as bright as the day, for darkness is as light to you. For it was you who formed my inward parts; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; that I know very well."

Romans 5:3-8

We also boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us. For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. Indeed, rarely will anyone die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person someone might actually dare to die. But God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us.

Colossians 1:11-15

May you be made strong with all the strength that comes from his glorious power, and may you be prepared to endure everything with patience, while joyfully giving thanks to the Father, who has enabled you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the light. He has rescued us from the power of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

Romans 8:14-17

For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God. For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received a spirit of adoption. When we cry, ‘Abba! Father!’ it is that very Spirit bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ—if, in fact, we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him.

Romans 8:38-39

For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

1 John 3:1-3

See what love the Father has given us, that we should be called children of God; and that is what we are. The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Beloved, we are God’s children now; what we will be has not yet been revealed. What we do know is this: when he is revealed, we will be like him, for we will see him as he is. And all who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure.

There are more, of course. The whole of Scripture is but a love letter from Him to me (and you). What are your comfort verses? Are there specific verses you go to when the world makes you want to scream or hide? Hoping your day is filled with peace and blessings!

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