I have spent the last three days attempting to settle into
life in Paraguay. Unlike the states
where I can run to Wal-Mart or Lowe’s and find exactly what I need from the
smallest screw to the largest lawn chair, life runs differently here. I visited three stores before finding the
hook from which I can hang my laundry line.
I’ve also experienced a different kind of help. In my quest to locate an adapter for one of
my appliance’s cords, I was told to break off the third prong that didn’t fit
into the two prong outlet. Problem
solved..Hmm.
As the days have passed, I’ve had to do some soul
searching. Two questions keep bouncing
around in my thoughts. First, why does
comfort equal possessions? Am I really
more comfortable if I have a string to hang my bedroom curtain on instead of
using two nails? Do I need to saturate
my house with things just to be comfortable?
And why do I think I have the right to be comfortable? Where in the Bible does it promise comfort to
believers? What passage encourages
believers to pursue comfort with all their energy?
I do know Paul mentions suffering, persecution, hardship, and
grief, and come to think of it, Peter and James also use this vocabulary. So where’s comfort in the list?
So I ask again how many possessions does it take to achieve a
quality of life that the Bible never promises the child of God?
Maybe the problem lies with making comfort and contentment synonymous. To have comfort is to be content and to be lacking
comfort is to be lacking contentment. The
Bible exhorts believers to live contentedly, but that isn’t the same as living
comfortably. Does that mean that contentment
can stand alone? Can I have contentment while
living uncomfortably? What does that
look like? Certainly it doesn’t equate
to more possessions.
My second question: does, “keeping it real,” and “calling it
like it is,” justify complaining? The
Bible clearly states “do all things without complaining or arguing.” (Phil.
2:14) This verse is written as a command and thus to complain is to disobey a
command, AKA sin. In my attempt to be
honest with friends and family, have I stepped over the line into sin? Have I made complaining permissible because it
paints a clear picture of reality?
Jesus said, “But the things that come out of the mouth come
from the heart, and these make a man ‘unclean’. (Matt. 15:18). Is what’s coming out of my mouth, sin
disguised in a trendy phrase, “keeping it real”?
So in my attempt to be honest without complaining, here is
life over the last few days. Hard,
challenging, and at times, frustrating as all get out, but it is also filled with
jewels of encouragement, a greater awe of God’s majesty, and a depth of communion
with the One who called us here like I have never known.
Oh for a thousand
tongues to sing
My Great Redeemer’s
praise
The glory of my God
and King
The triumphant of
grace.
