Comfort - Treatment or Symptom

I once had a conversation with a young adult about the value of religion. His perspective was that we are left in a state of perpetual discomfort without knowledge of our origin. Religion to him was the answer to that, and little else than that. The story of origin was the problem, and the treatment plan is religion. This made comfort the goal of any religion. If it is accomplished, then it has value. I sympathized with him. Life is uncomfortable, so it is hard not to cling to any sort of comfort when it is found. 

There are two definitions from the Hebrew word we translate as "comfort" that will help us crack the code of what comfort means from a biblical standpoint.

The word for comfort in Hebrew is נָחַם (nacham). It appears 29 times in the Old Testament and has several translations. The most common is to relent, like in the book of Job where he is calling on God to hold his hand back from any more trial. The other main translation is to sigh, pity, and even avenge. This is shown in Genesis 27:42, where it says, "But the words of Esau her older son were told to Rebekah. So she sent and called Jacob her younger son and said to him, "Behold, your brother Esau comforts himself about you by planning to kill you." 

Only twice outside of Psalms does the OT reference this word for comfort as God providing it. The rest of the time, the term "comfort" indicates the relenting of some action or feeling. In essence, the remaining translations of the word means the omission of undue suffering. This comes from scriptures like David's affection for the law, the thing that to him and many others gave them a baseline for the avoidance of undue suffering. 

Comfort is a hard master to serve, especially if you have any aspirations of growth or development. 

I have a close friend who, during a foundational time in my life, would often make me very uncomfortable. He wasn't disrespectful or inappropriate in any way, but he challenged me to develop my mind and think hard about the assumptions I made about life. He also encouraged me to create definitions for the words I use to better explain my worldview and understand others more thoroughly. He was unrelenting in the pursuit of knowledge and wisdom. Within this barrage that still lasts to this day, he has also been unrelenting in his friendship with me, making it difficult for me to be selfish, distant, and dishonest, which is something I couldn't thank him enough for.

By the definition of comfort that the young man had, the friendship would be valueless. It would be a distraction from the things that I should have been seeking. Having continual discomfort or relentlessness in my life would have gone contrary to the idea that life is best lived by avoiding all the suffering and stress we can. 

I responded to him with the idea that religion didn't result in comfort for me. Comfort wasn't the initiator, but it was a symptom of something greater. Purpose. By means of creation and covenant, we are adopted into children of the living God; we have a purpose in life. Comfort through trial and malevolence is a symptom of that purpose. As an heir with Christ, we have a calling to accept the responsibilities and privileges that come with being nobility of the kingdom. 

The main word for comfort in the New Testament only shows once in the entirety of the gospels. It is used in the sermon on the mount in Matthew 5. This greek word is παρακαλέω (parakaleo) and literally means to call beside. This word is only used three times in the New Testament to indicate "comfort." This word doesn't give us the primary meaning of that word as it is the anecdote, not the norm. The main word in the New Testament that is translated as "comfort" is παρακλήσις. There is another sense of calling in this word as well, but with a different breakdown. In Acts 9:21, it says that the church in Judea left in the comfort of the Holy Spirit. At that point, it didn't matter what they did because they knew in the most tangible way that God had called them to the life they were in. that he had a plan. 

Forty percent of the times παρακλήσις is used in the NT is in one paragraph in 2 Corinthians. The feeling that the church had in Acts 9 can be appropriately inserted in the modern translation of that paragraph in 2 Corinthians. Our current definition of the word "comfort" doesn't do the verse justice. Here is the section with the same translation as is used in Acts. 

2Cor. 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all encouragement, 4 who encourages us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to encourage those who are in any affliction, with the encouragement with which we ourselves are comforted by God. 5 For as we share abundantly in Christ's sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in encouragement too. 6 If we are afflicted, it is for your encouragement and salvation; and if we are encouraged, it is for your encouragement, which you experience when you patiently endure the same sufferings that we suffer. 7 Our hope for you is unshaken, for we know that as you share in our sufferings, you will also share in our encouragement.

Why would there be little cause for encouragement before the book of Acts? The assurance that faith entails is based on one fact that the Lamb that was slain remains so no longer. He is alive. In this fact, we hold our encouragement, comfort, or sustenance. 

In closing, let's look at comfort from a biblical lens.

Old Testament - Comfort, Relent 

Reduce the suffering that is currently happening. 

The ceasing of fear and anxiety of my sphere. 

New Testament - Encourage 

Because you have reason to have courage. 

You have a Savior who died for you.

You are cherished in the heavens.

You have been called to be heirs in heaven.

You are living as children of God, who has an eternal perspective. 

Drive for the encouragement that comes knowing you are a saved child of the living God, and comfort may ensue as a symptom of that. However, if you strive for comfort alone, you will find it to be an illusionary rung on the ladder to happiness. Something you may imagine grasping, but it will only slip through your fingers like smoke.