Is It Okay To Be Comfortable?

This afternoon, when I was at the Temple, I noted how comfortable I felt. The temperature was perfect, and I was dressed perfectly for it. Then I wondered whether or not it's okay to be comfortable.

One of my many problems is that I am too fond of feeling comfortable. When I am in a comfortable situation, I tend to stay in it as long as it remains comfortable, even when I should be growing instead. God wants us to grow. If we're too comfortable, we might not be sufficiently motivated to grow. 

Yet, God offers us some level of comfort. President Harold B. Lee once wrote, "Somewhere I read a statement that the function of a newspaper is to comfort the afflicted and to afflict the comforted. In some respects, I think, this is what the Church is all about—to comfort the afflicted and to afflict the comforted" ("The Message," New Era, Jan 1971).

So, what's the deal here? We face afflictions, so God comforts us, then we are comforted, so God afflicts us? Are we supposed to be comforted or afflicted or what?

The answer, as is often the case, probably lies somewhere in between. I think that God is okay with us feeling comfortable, as long as we don't get too comfortable. We need to keep growing, and God will spur us on if He has to, but as long as we're making progress, I thinks it's okay to feel at least a little bit comfortable with the progress we are making.

I am not, and should not, feel entirely comfortable with the person I am right now. No imperfect person should. As long as there is room to improve, there should be a desire to improve. Yet, as long as we are improving, perhaps that desire for improvement can be satisfied. As long as we are growing, maybe God doesn't need to spur us into growing. And as long as we're heading in the right direction, maybe we can take comfort in the fact that we're heading in the right direction.

Maybe being comfortable can be okay. Maybe growth and comfort can coexist. We have to grow, but it may be true that, even while growing, we can also find some level of comfort.