Comfort Food

Food truly is the one consistent factor that has the ability to bring us all together.  I have been on many airplanes in my life, and I have made the observation that the ride can be utterly silent….until the peanuts are passed around.  Once we open our mouths to eat, we begin to let our conversation flow.  Food is comforting.  The tension that we may feel in a room filled with strangers begins to ebb away when we feed our bodies.  Food shows up at every celebration – birthdays, graduations, weddings, funerals.  It is the star at every gathering. 

In the past couple of weeks, my family has attended two funerals.  One was the joyous celebration of a man whose life, while gone too soon, was lived for the Lord, his family and friends.  The other was the unexpected farewell of a dear wife, mother and grandmother who will be sorely missed and longingly remembered.  And in keeping with good Southern tradition, friends and family came to visit, bringing with them enough food for an army.  People filled their plates and remembered loved ones with fondness, laughter and tears.  The sadness didn’t disappear, but the comfort of friends and family and a plate of homemade macaroni and cheese seemed to help. 

There are certain places in the Bible that seem like comfort food to me.  There are chapters and verses that come to me like old friends when I need them.  I try to keep a variety in my steady diet of the Word, but there are moments when I just need a constant companion – the Scriptures that I can quote word for word.  It reminds me of the 23^rd Psalm.  “Thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me.”  The staff of a shepherd was used for his personal support, as well as for the guidance, correction and salvation of the sheep.  Doesn’t this sound like the Word of God?  This precious Divinely-inspired Book that keeps our feet steady is also the Book that points us in the right direction, provides a standard that brings discipline and brings salvation when we need it most.  All of this together is a steady and unwavering factor in our lives.  This is the comfort that we have. 

Things around us are bound to change, to wither and to decay, but the Word of God is the same yesterday, today and forever.  I encourage you to devour the Scriptures!  You will never have a bite of comfort food that will satisfy quite like the Bible.  I guarantee it. And when your own personal trials come, you will be so glad to have a true source of comfort.