Don’t Mistake Safety for Comfort. Part 2
There’s something beautifully ordinary happening in Acts 21.
Paul is traveling. Philip is serving. Agabus is prophesying. Philip’s daughters are ministering. The gospel is advancing through an entire network of ordinary servants.
These are the Acts of the Holy Spirit. God is behind all of it, just doing His thing.
But in verses 10–12, we see some tension.
After Paul arrives in Caesarea, a prophet named Agabus comes down from Judea. He takes Paul’s belt, ties his own hands and feet, and delivers a prophetic message:
“After we had been there for several days, a prophet named Agabus came down from Judea. He came to us, took Paul’s belt, tied his own feet and hands, and said, “This is what the Holy Spirit says: ‘In this way the Jews in Jerusalem will bind the man who owns this belt and deliver him over to the Gentiles.’ ” When we heard this, both we and the local people pleaded with him not to go up to Jerusalem.” Acts 21:10-12
Everyone who loves Paul pleads with him not to go to Jerusalem. They don't want him to suffer. It is almost as if the entire Christian community is trying to protect Paul from the very thing God has prepared him to endure.
In verse 4, the disciples, “through the Spirit,” tell Paul not to go to Jerusalem. Now Agabus, in a game of prophetic charades, tells Paul that he will be bound and handed over to the Gentiles.
So what are we supposed to make of this?
I think one of the most important things we see here is that the Spirit’s ministry isn't always to make the road easier, but to prepare us to walk the road faithfully.
These warnings aren't necessarily telling Paul, to “Turn around.” Rather, they are preparing him for what is ahead.
The Spirit isn't promising Paul comfort. The Spirit is preparing Paul for suffering.
This is an incredibly important truth for every Christian to understand: The safest place you will ever be is in the middle of God’s will for you.
I don’t know who originally said this, but it is absolutely true.
But this truism also means that the safest place will not always be the most comfortable place. Being in the center of God’s Will, will not make obedience always feel good.
Our culture would say, “The good life is the easy life.”
But friends, scripture says otherwise. We must be very careful not to confuse:
a difficult road with the wrong road
our comfort with God’s blessing
a life of ease with God’s will
safety with faithfulness
hardship with failure
suffering with abandonment
what feels good with what is good
what is comfortable with what is faithful
an easier life with a better life
peace with the absence of problems
difficulty with disobedience
pain with punishment
resistance with a closed door
opposition with God’s absence
Wow! How many times have I misinterpreted the Christian life because it was not a comfortable life.
Friends, don't become mixed up in your thinking and assume that God's protection must include preservation from suffering, that the path of obedience will always be the path of least resistance, or that our circumstances are a reflection of God's goodness toward us.
Do not believe the lie that if God truly loves you, you would have a life free from suffering.
It’s just not true.
Jesus never promised that.
Instead, Jesus promised that following Him would sometimes be costly.
We must fight to not let the comforts and expectations of this age tell us what a good Christian life is supposed to look like. Rather, we must live our lives from the Scriptures.
What do the Scriptures teach? Here are 9 “Real Life” reminders.
1. We are not entitled to a harmonious marriage.
Sometimes God will bless couples with a conflicted marriage because it produces a unique perseverance in them—one that is required to make it to the end.
“Consider it a great joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you experience various trials, because you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its full effect, so that you may be mature and complete, lacking nothing.” James 1:2-4
2. We are not entitled to close friendships.
Sometimes God will have His people walk the lonely road so that He can become nearer than a brother, and so that they find their deepest companionship in Christ.
“Who do I have in heaven but you? And I desire nothing on earth but you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart, my portion forever.” Psalm 73:25-26
3. We are not entitled to good health.
Sometimes God will use weakness to teach us that His grace is sufficient.
“Therefore, so that I would not exalt myself, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to torment me so that I would not exalt myself. Concerning this, I pleaded with the Lord three times that it would leave me. But he said to me,“My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is perfected in weakness.”
Therefore, I will most gladly boast all the more about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may reside in me. So I take pleasure in weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and in difficulties, for the sake of Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” 2 Corinthians 12:7-10
4. We are not entitled to healthy children.
Sometimes God will entrust parents with children whose needs require a lifetime of sacrificial care and love that models the love of Christ before the world.
“Therefore, be imitators of God, as dearly loved children, and walk in love, as Christ also loved us and gave himself for us, a sacrificial and fragrant offering to God.” Ephesians 5:1-2
5. We are not entitled to financial security.
Sometimes God will lead His people into seasons of scarcity so they learn that He is their provider.
“I rejoiced in the Lord greatly because once again you renewed your care for me. You were, in fact, concerned about me but lacked the opportunity to show it. I don’t say this out of need, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I find myself. I know how to make do with little, and I know how to make do with a lot. In any and all circumstances I have learned the secret of being content — whether well fed or hungry, whether in abundance or in need. I am able to do all things through him who strengthens me.” Philippians 4:10-13
6. We are not entitled to a peaceful neighborhood.
Sometimes God puts His people in difficult places because He wants them to be light in the darkness.
“Do everything without grumbling and arguing, so that you may be blameless and pure, children of God who are faultless in a crooked and perverted generation, among whom you shine like stars in the world, by holding firm to the word of life. Then I can boast in the day of Christ that I didn’t run or labor for nothing.” Philippians 2:14-16
7. We are not entitled to a growing church or successful ministry.
Sometimes God will ask a faithful pastor or ministry worker to labor for years with little visible fruit.
“What then is Apollos? What is Paul? They are servants through whom you believed, and each has the role the Lord has given. I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So, then, neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth.” 1 Corinthians 3:5-7
8. We are not entitled to a trouble-free faith.
Sometimes God will deepen our faith by taking us through the fire.
“You rejoice in this, even though now for a short time, if necessary, you suffer grief in various trials so that the proven character of your faith — more valuable than gold which, though perishable, is refined by fire — may result in praise, glory, and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.” 1 Peter 1:6-7
10. We are not entitled to an explanation.
Sometimes God will ask us to trust His heart when we cannot understand His hand.
“Then the Lord answered Job from the whirlwind. He said: Who is this who obscures my counsel with ignorant words? Get ready to answer me like a man; when I question you, you will inform me. Where were you when I established the earth? Tell me, if you have understanding.” Job 38:1-4
“Then Job replied to the Lord: I know that you can do anything and no plan of yours can be thwarted. You asked, “Who is this who conceals my counsel with ignorance? ” Surely I spoke about things I did not understand, things too wondrous for me to know. You said, “Listen now, and I will speak. When I question you, you will inform me.” I had heard reports about you, but now my eyes have seen you. Therefore, I reject my words and am sorry for them; I am dust and ashes.” Job 42:1-6
This kind of spiritual understanding is a level of Christian maturity that many people live their entire lives and never comprehend. Rather, they spend their lives trying to arrange their circumstances so that they are comfortable, safe, successful, understood, healthy, and happy.
But make no mistake: This is not the Christian life.
The Christian life is not about arranging our circumstances so that we suffer as little as possible. The Christian life is about knowing Christ, trusting Christ, following Christ, and becoming like Christ—whatever the costs, in whatever circumstances He calls us to.
Paul understood this. He had already heard the warnings. He knew Jerusalem would be painful. He knew suffering was waiting for him.
And yet he kept walking. Why?
Because Paul had learned something that every follower of Jesus must eventually learn: The will of God is better than the comfort of man.
Sometimes the road God asks us to walk will be hard. Sometimes it will be lonely. Sometimes it will be costly. Sometimes it will make absolutely no sense to the people who love us most.
But if Christ is there, we can walk it. Because our hope is not that the road will be easy. Our hope is that Jesus will be with us on the road.
Why This Matters for New England
For Christians, this understanding must become part of our theology of mission.
Neighborhood Churches, exists to train and equip gospel–exalting missionaries through planting and revitalizing churches in the forgotten places of New England.
And if we're honest, some of those places are not the easiest places to go. New England can be hard soil.
There are neighborhoods where churches have disappeared. Communities where generations have grown up with little meaningful exposure to the gospel. Places where people are skeptical of Christianity, suspicious of churches, or simply indifferent to Jesus.
There are neighborhoods where the need is obvious, but the ministry worker is scarce.
And the natural response is to ask: Why would we go there?
Why plant a church in that neighborhood?
Why move our family there?
Why spend years building relationships with people who may never walk through the doors of our church?
Why renovate another old building?
Why knock on another door?
Why serve another community?
Why stay when it would be easier to go somewhere else?
Because we do not measure the goodness of a mission by how comfortable it makes us. We measure it by whether God has called us to it.
Paul didn't look at Jerusalem and say, “This looks dangerous, so it must not be God's will.” He looked at Jerusalem and said, “The will of the Lord be done.” That has to become the posture of every missionary. And honestly, it has to become the posture of every Christian.
Maybe God is calling you to stay in a difficult marriage.
Maybe He's calling you to remain faithful in a difficult job.
Maybe He's calling you to serve in a small church.
Maybe He's calling you to care for a child whose needs are greater than you imagined.
Maybe He's calling you to live in a neighborhood that isn't comfortable.
Maybe He's calling you to remain faithful in ministry when the fruit is slow.
Maybe He's calling you to go somewhere you never imagined going.
Maybe He's calling you to New England.
And when He does, you cannot make comfort your compass. Comfort is a terrible guide for obedience. If comfort becomes our standard, we'll always choose the easier road.
We'll leave when perseverance is required. We'll protect ourselves when sacrifice is needed. We'll avoid difficult neighborhoods, difficult people, difficult ministries, and difficult conversations.
And eventually, without even realizing it, we'll build a life that is very comfortable—and very far from the kind of costly discipleship Jesus calls us to.
But Paul in Acts 21 shows us a better and more faithful way. We don't follow Jesus because the road is easy. We follow Jesus because Jesus is worth it.
That's why we go to forgotten places.
That's why we plant churches.
That's why we revitalize dying churches.
That's why we send missionaries.
That's why we train ordinary men and women to live on mission.
That's why we stay.
Because there are people in these neighborhoods who need to hear about Jesus. And sometimes reaching them will cost us. It may cost us comfort and perceived security. And, for some, it may cost much more.
But we don't believe the safest life is the life with the least suffering. We believe the safest life is the life surrendered to Jesus.
So don't ask first, “Will this be comfortable?”
Ask: “Is Jesus calling me?”
Don't ask: “Will this be easy?”
Ask: “Will this be faithful?”
Don't ask: “What will this cost me?”
Ask: “Is Christ worth the cost?”
And then respond: “If He calls us the forgotten places of New England, then we go. If He calls us to stay, then we stay. If He calls us to suffer, then we suffer. If He calls us to persevere, then we persevere. And if He calls us home, then we go home.”
Because ultimately, our safety is not found in a comfortable place. Our safety is found in Christ. And wherever He leads us, the safest place we can ever be is in the middle of His will.