Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort … 2 Corinthians 1:3

She wheels her grocery cart through the dairy aisle…

“No need for butter!” she thinks.

“Why do people use butter anyway?”

Not for toast she hopes…

A little jelly, perhaps…

But no butter…

Toast without butter is one of her beliefs…

One of her habits…

It gives her comfort.

Next the soft drink aisle….

She drinks only one brand.

Another habit.

Another comfort…

Finally finished with her shopping…

She crosses the parking lot toward her car.

Looking around the lot…

She’s stunned and disappointed at all the varied makes of cars…

She has driven only one make of car her entire life…

Bought her cars from only one dealership…

She believes her make of car is the best.

She believes the dealership is the best in the area.

Beliefs.

Habits.

Comfort.

On her way home…

She passes her church…

The only church she has ever attended…

The church where she has sat in the same pew most of her adult life…

She believes her church is the best in town.

She believes God wants her to go to that church.

There is comfort in the habit of siting in the same pew every Sunday…

Comfort in the beliefs that drive her there…

Beliefs.

Habits.

Comfort.

For her…

For us all.

And yet…

What if God is bigger than our beliefs?

How great is God—beyond our understanding! Job 36:26

What if He wants more for us than mere comfort?

Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.  Matthew 16:24

What if He gives us comfort so that we can comfort others?

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God. 2 Corinthians 1:3-4

Note: A first version of this post appeared in July, 2016