What God Has Been Teaching Me Lately
Discomforting God
"Indeed, the bed is too short to stretch out on. And its cover is too small to wrap up in." (Isaiah 28:20)
That verse makes me think a miserable night of restlessness awaits the tired person who gets that sorry bed! Doesn't it?
The verse serves as a word picture in this chapter of Isaiah. God is speaking to His people as a father reproving his child. Isaiah is prophesying the impending threat of the Assyrian army upon Israel as a form of discipline.
God's people had become corrupt and prideful, prone to excess and neglectful of God's Word. Their actions, and even inaction, invited their own ruin.
God, through Isaiah, was lovingly speaking to them and protecting them from the awful perils of unfettered pride by making them very, very uncomfortable. The love of God sometimes motivates Him to be discomforting toward us.
Have I ever been uncomfortable and felt it was sanctioned by God? Have you? I know I have. The bed and blanket imagery pictures for me my ultimate place of comfort. I love bedtime. It's the time and place I rest-at least in theory! Since menopause, sleep isn't merely a necessity, it's a coveted treat! A comfy bed is a place of refuge, peace, escape and refreshing. The older I get, the pickier I have become about bedtime though. It has to be a cool, dark room. The mattress can't be too firm and by all means, it can't be too soft. The covers have to be weighty, but not smothering or hot. If the blanket is lighter, it can't be too thin. The blankets have to fall within the perfect weight to promote the perfect temperature for the perfect sleep to occur! And then there are the pillows! One memory foam and one feather-filled with Egyptian cotton pillowcases are the optimum place to rest my head! (I'll spare you the perfect pajama trauma I've endured!) All these preferences contribute to a night of restful sleep.
So, when God says the "bed is too short and the covers aren't big enough," I get that! It suggests real, unrelenting discomfort. A short bed with inadequate covers brings no escape from life that presses in and wears us out. Sleep can afford a respite, but not when the bed is uncomfortable and the blanket inadequate. That kind of discomfort creates even more fatigue and no relief.
Does God ever allow my whole life to feel like that? Yes, there have been times it felt quite a lot like that. Tired. No rest. Something always pending. Something always demanding. Inner turmoil, relationship stress, emotional weariness. Not even sleep affords escape. Daily, dreary, unrelenting discomfort.
Discomfort can make me feel protected, though, if I see it through the lenses of Isaiah 28. God allowed severe discomfort, and even pain, in the lives of His people out of severe love. I think He does the same for you and me. Sometimes it is to discipline-to cut away all that hinders growth. Sometimes it is to strip away independence and pride. Sometimes it serves as water to cleanse us. The discomfort can serve to remind us we can't rest in our own righteousness and self-sufficiency. Those are the ultimate inadequacies. Sometimes it's just God's severe mercy showing up to protect us from something worse than the actual pain we're experiencing. I don't know the whole purpose of my times of discomfort, but I know there is a purpose. There may be many purposes. I guess one way to look at the discomfort is to see the merciful provision that remains within the discomfort. God didn't take away the bed itself or even remove the covers. He just made that provision feel inadequate. Something about that inadequacy reveals a sufficiency that only God can grant. I can rest in that truth, no matter the discomfort.
Oh Lord, if my bed feels too small and the covers inadequate may I rest in You alone. Help me tonight as I get in bed. If anxiety or pain tries to smother me, help me to remember that You are the God of comfort who allows me to feel Your comfort as You lovingly choose to discomfort me. May I find my soul's rest and refreshment, my consolation, in You. Thank You for Your merciful, discomforting provision.
Amen.
Well, that's what's been percolating in me lately.
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