Comfort Zone

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Have you been away from home for a long time, homesick, feeling outta place, and when you return, things go better, sleep, etc. You're back in your comfort Zone. Well, very early in the Bible, a man, Abraham, was told to leave his comfort zone.

Gen 12:1 Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will show thee:

Gen 12:2 And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing:

Gen 12:4 So Abram departed, as the LORD had spoken unto him; and Lot went with him: and Abram was seventy and five years old when he departed out of Haran.

It appears some find comfort in the destruction of others. In the next verse we have an example of such.

Gen 27:41 And Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing wherewith his father blessed him: and Esau said in his heart, The days of mourning for my father are at hand; then will I slay my brother Jacob.

Gen 27:42 And these words of Esau her elder son were told to Rebekah: and she sent and called Jacob her younger son, and said unto him, Behold, thy brother Esau, as touching thee, doth comfort[1] himself, purposing to kill thee.

1 "COMFORT": 5162. nacham, naw-kham'; a prim. root; prop. to sigh, i.e. breathe strongly; by impl. to be sorry, i.e. (in a favorable sense) to pity, console, or (reflex.) rue; or (unfavorably) to avenge (oneself):--comfort (self), ease [one's self], repent (-er, -ing, self).

Jacob's mother to Jacob:
Gen 27:43 Now therefore, my son, obey my voice; and arise, flee thou to Laban my brother to Haran;

Gen 27:44 And tarry with him a few days, until thy brother's fury turn away;

Gen 27:45 Until thy brother's anger turn away from thee, and he forget that which thou hast done to him: then I will send, and fetch thee from thence: why should I be deprived also of you both in one day?

For a few days? ...... Jacob would not return for twenty years. Imagine twenty years away from your comfort zone. Not just for Jacob, but his mother, father, and Esau his brother. When one is out of his or her comfort zone, there's lots of discomfort. The following five verses is from the mouth of Jacob letting off a little steam to his father-in-law upon his departure to his comfort zone, (home).

Gen 31:38 This twenty years have I been with thee; thy ewes and thy she goats have not cast their young, and the rams of thy flock have I not eaten.

Gen 31:39 That which was torn of beasts I brought not unto thee; I bare the loss of it; of my hand didst thou require it, whether stolen by day, or stolen by night.

Gen 31:40 Thus I was; in the day the drought consumed me, and the frost by night; and my sleep departed from mine eyes.

Gen 31:41 Thus have I been twenty years in thy house; I served thee fourteen years for thy two daughters, and six years for thy cattle: and thou hast changed my wages ten times.

Gen 31:42 Except the God of my father, the God of Abraham, and the fear of Isaac, had been with me, surely thou hadst sent me away now empty. God hath seen mine affliction and the labour of my hands, and rebuked thee yesternight.

Most of the time we like to be comforted, but in the next four verses we find a man who refuses to be comforted. We sometimes find this at the loss of a loved one. Such is the case of Jacob upon hearing of what he thought to be the death of his son Joseph.

Gen 37:31 And they took Joseph's coat, and killed a kid of the goats, and dipped the coat in the blood;

Gen 37:32 And they sent the coat of many colours, and they brought it to their father; and said, This have we found: know now whether it be thy son's coat or no.

Gen 37:33 And he knew it, and said, It is my son's coat; an evil beast hath devoured him; Joseph is without doubt rent in pieces.

Gen 37:34 And Jacob rent his clothes, and put sackcloth upon his loins, and mourned for his son many days.

Gen 37:35 And all his sons and all his daughters rose up to comfort him; but he refused to be comforted; and he said, For I will go down into the grave unto my son mourning. Thus his father wept for him.

Gen 37:36 And the Midianites sold him into Egypt unto Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh's, and captain of the guard.

Imagine how Joseph must have felt. He was surely out of his comfort zone.

Are we away from our comfort zone? I mean our real comfort zone, heaven? I've heard people say and there are even songs written about being homesick to go to heaven. How can one miss something they've never had? Or be homesick, for a place they've never been? Maybe, just maybe, we've been there before.

Gen 1:26 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.

Did God ever feel discomfort for sending His children away from Him?

Gen 6:6 And it repented[1] the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart.

1 "REPENTED": 5162. nacham, naw-kham'; a prim. root; prop. to sigh, i.e. breathe strongly; by impl. to be sorry, i.e. (in a favorable sense) to pity, console, or (reflex.) rue; or (unfavorably) to avenge (oneself):--comfort (self), ease [one's self], repent (-er, -ing, self).

I think God was wondering if flesh man could withstand the wiles of Satan, or at least with free will, it would be a hard trip for the flesh body. It appears that even God has some discomfort. But, there was a time when all were happy and full of joy.

Job, during all his woes, discomfort, and misfortunes, had been listening to some super preachers of his day. Finally God shows up and gets on his case. Starts asking Job some questions.

Job 38:1 Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind, and said,

Job 38:2 Who is this that darkeneth counsel by words without knowledge?

Job 38:3 Gird up now thy loins like a man; for I will demand of thee, and answer thou me.

Start acting like a man Job. The following verses are two of the questions.

Job 38:4 Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? declare, if thou hast understanding.

Where was Job? He must have been somewhere. Just because we as flesh persons don't understand, doesn't mean that we weren't in existence prior to this earth age.

Job 38:7 When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?

Who are the morning stars? Jesus and Satan. See Isa 14:12 and Rev. 22:16 below. There was a time when they sang together. Not in this earth age but the one before.

Isa 14:12 How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!

Rev 22:16 I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star.

To me, this next verse verifies that we are away from our comfort zone.

John 3:13 And no man[1] hath ascended up to heaven, but[2] he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man[3] which is in heaven.

1 "MAN": 3762. oudeis, oo-dice'; includ. fem. oudemia, oo-dem-ee'-ah; and neut. ouden, oo-den'; from G3761 and G1520; not even one (man, woman or thing), i.e. none, nobody, nothing:--any (man), aught, man, neither any (thing), never (man), no (man), none (+ of these things), not (any, at all, -thing), nought.

2 "BUT": 1508. ei me, i may; from G1487 and G3361; if not:--but, except (that), if not, more than, save (only) that, saving, till.

3 "MAN": 444. anthropos, anth'-ro-pos; from G435 and ops (the countenance; from G3700); man-faced, i.e. a human being:--certain, man.

I add the verse with Strong's underlined.

And no man, (not even one man, woman or thing), hath ascended up to heaven, but, (or except), he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man, (a certain human being), which is in heaven.

To me, this verse, John 3:13, proves, that we were all with God, and in heaven before we came to this flesh age. Man has to return to heaven, (his comfort zone), the same way he came here. In the spirit. Man cannot take his flesh with him. Only Jesus, Enoch, and Elijah, their flesh being transfigured, has done that. While we're in the flesh, we're out of our comfort zone.

2 Cor 5:6 Therefore we are always confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent[1] from the Lord:

1 "ABSENT": 1553. ekdemeo, ed-day-meh'-o; from a comp. of G1537 and G1218; to emigrate, i.e. (fig.) vacate or quit:--be absent.

I believe that the word absent indicates that we were with God before but while we're in flesh bodies we are absent or, (we emigrated), from Him for that duration of time.

2 Cor 5:8 We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.

This verse proves that when this flesh body dies, the soul or spirit goes directly to God. Back to our comfort zone.

We spend our lifetime looking for the comfort that can't be found in this world. Where we all get along, sing together, and shout for joy. No pain, suffering, war, death, or even loneliness. No discomfort. Well there's only one place we can find it.

The God of all comfort:
2 Cor 1:3 Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort[1];

1 "COMFORT": 3874. paraklesis, par-ak'-lay-sis; from G3870; imploration, hortation, solace:--comfort, consolation, exhortation, intreaty.

2 Cor 1:4 Who comforteth us in all our tribulation[1], that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God.

1 "TRIBULATION": 2347. thlipsis, thlip'-sis; from G2346; pressure (lit. or fig.):--afflicted, (-tion), anguish, burdened, persecution, tribulation, trouble.

2 Cor 1:5 For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation[1] also aboundeth by Christ.

1 "CONSOLATION": 3874. paraklesis, par-ak'-lay-sis; from G3870; imploration, hortation, solace:--comfort, consolation, exhortation, intreaty.

When we're with God, we will be comfortable. The closest we can be with God and Jesus now, is through His word. The Bible. I've studied the Bible for many years and even now, I still get more and more each time I read It. The deeper I study, the more comfort I receive.

John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

John 1:14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.

When will we experience the Ultimate Comfort?

Rev 21:1 And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.

Rev 21:2 And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.

Rev 21:3 And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.

Rev 21:4 And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.

Wont it be nice to back in our COMFORT ZONE?

Thanks, for allowing me, to share this with you. Remember, to always, study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. But shun profane and vain babblings: for they will increase unto more ungodliness.

In His Word,
Art Porter

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