When God Doesn't Make SenseSample

Comfort Food For Thought

Heads up. This Bible Plan may not be exactly what you’re looking for. If you want to make perfect sense of the tough situations you’ve faced or are currently facing, this is not that. If you’re looking for three easy steps to make your situation go away, this is not that either. Instead, we’ll read through stories in the Bible of people who faced tragedy, pain, and disappointment. We will look to see how people somehow found comfort in the midst of pain, and we will look to find God’s place in these stories. We believe these stories are the word of God, equipped with all the power they need to work in us.

Since we’re talking about when God doesn’t make sense, let’s start with a word most of us think we understand: comfort. The history of the word “comfort” reveals the evolving way we see God’s footprint in our pain. The word is made from two Latin word parts, com-, which basically means “together with,” and fortis, which means “strong or strength.” Later, the Latin word confortare came to mean, “to strengthen much.” Eventually, an Old French word, conforter, would add words like “solace” and “help” to the definition. In the 14th century, another French word, conforten, is defined as, “to cheer up, console.” Finally, by the 17th century, the English version of the word implies the sense of physical ease that we understand today.

We read comfort and we think of pillows, mashed potatoes, or maybe an old pair of worn-in pants. In about a millennia, this word went from meaning, “together-strength,” to meaning “pain-barrier.” We went from understanding God’s comfort as His company, to understanding it as His intervention. When something terrible happens and we don’t see God intervene, we sometimes wonder whether He’s really there at all. But, we’re not alone. Before “comfort” word-morphed, King David experienced a time when God seemed inattentive. Read his letters to God and try to keep pace with his seemingly varying take on God’s place in his struggle.

Pause:Think about the last time you questioned God’s existence. How were you looking to experience His company?

Get When God Doesn't Make Sense videos, and discussion guides.