While most of us have either gotten rid of our comfort object or passed it on to the next generation, we’re still not totally independent of our attachment to comfort. We still find ourselves clinging to what is comfortable and familiar rather than facing the uncertainty of the future God has called us to. We’d rather stay in our current reality, whether it’s healthy or not, than pursue what we do not know.

We see the same story play out in Luke 8:26-39. The townspeople were more comfortable with the demon possessed man, because he was familiar, than with the healthy, healed version of the same man, because he was unfamiliar and unknown. They didn’t know what to expect from the new person that stood before them, so they feared him. We may scoff at the absurdity of it, but how often do our lives mirror the same story? We often fear the future, because we don’t know what to expect of it. We would rather remain in our current reality, because it’s safe and familiar, than seek a new future. We avoid doing the difficult work of healing because it might cost us some of our comfort. But the thing about comfort is, if we hold onto it for too long, the thing that was meant to help us move forward actually becomes the thing that holds us back.

Questions for Reflection:

• Did you have a comfort object as a child?

• Can you relate at all to the townspeople in the story from Luke 8?

• How do you respond to the statement “Health is not a product of your circumstances, but your character?”

• What significance do you see in Jesus telling the healed man to return home?

• Has there been a time in your life when you chased different circumstances rather than a different character to bring about your health?

• In what ways might comfort be keeping you from your calling?

• Are there comfortable things that you may need to let go of in order to pursue God’s future for you?

• Are there unhealthy things that you may need to drive out in order to pursue God’s future for you?