Writing about faith and connection to help ease the ache of loneliness. Subscribe to Drawing Near for weekly(ish) inspiration.
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Drawing Near #53🧣
Published 3 months ago • 3 min read
You are reading the 53rd issue of Drawing Near, a newsletter to encourage connection and soften the ache of loneliness. Each week, you'll receive inspiration for connecting with God, yourself, and the people around you. To see previous issues, go to our newsletter page.
As the weather chills in December (at least here in the US), we grasp for our warm cozy things—gloves, scarves, blankets, socks—and light fires in the fireplace. We long for the comforting hug of warmth.
And yet, before we know it, we're tossing aside those items and cranking up the air conditioning. Our need for warmth and comfort is seasonal.
The seasons of life are the same. We have seasons where we yearn for comfort and seasons where we can offer comfort to someone else. Through all seasons, our God is the only source of eternal comfort.
3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, 4 who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.5 For just as we share abundantly in the sufferings of Christ, so also our comfort abounds through Christ. 6 If we are distressed, it is for your comfort and salvation; if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you patient endurance of the same sufferings we suffer.7 And our hope for you is firm, because we know that just as you share in our sufferings, so also you share in our comfort.
♥️Wrap yourself in a cozy blanket, and say a prayer to God thanking Him for His comfort, and the comfort that you have received from others.
Connect with Yourself
✍🏼Take some time to journal using these prompts (or just think on them and invite God in with prayer):
What areas of your life do you feel like you are suffering alone?
Have you shared this suffering with God? Have you shared it with others?
Name specific characteristics of God that are a comfort to you in this situation.
Read Psalm 56:8 and rest in the comfort that God sees and knows every tear.
You keep track of all my sorrows. You have collected all my tears in your bottle. You have recorded each one in your book. Psalm 56:8
Connect with Others
🩶Think about someone in your life who needs comfort. Perhaps they are suffering through sickness, divorce, child-raising difficulties, loneliness, loss, anxiety, troubles at work, etc. How can you comfort with the comfort you have received?
Here are my ideas. Feel free to come up with your own!
Take them some warm soup (homemade or store-bought), or any hot meal.
Ask them out to coffee or deliver a hot fresh cup to them.
Pray for them.
Send a card or a text letting them know you prayed for God's comfort to rest on them.
Gift them a blanket with a verse about God's comfort written on a card.
Invite them to watch A Charlie Brown Christmas with you.
Name something specific you could do for them, and ask them if they'd like your help.
🖤If you are the one needing comfort in this season, reach out to a friend and ask them for what you need (to talk, to do nothing together, to pray, to do something fun). You can also reach out to a counselor.
Your Comfy Extras
📖Read this quote from Holy Hygge by Jamie Erickson: "Prayer is not passive. It is our first line of defense in our discomfort. Our struggles are a blessed invitation to draw near to Jesus...As He comforts you, comfort others. In doing so, you'll be declaring to the world that sanctuary is possible. Hurt will not win."
💌Download, print, and send a "Tidings of Comfort & Joy" card from my Etsy shop, Drawing Near Paper Studio!
🎶 Listen to songs with themes of comfort (these links will take you to YouTube):
🧣Buy for yourself or gift something cozy. My house as at least four Vera Bradley throw blankets, and I've gifted many of them. They're not cheap, but you can always find good deals on the Vera Bradley Outlet website!
📲Save a free Comfort & Joy phone wallpaper by tapping the photo below. Save the image to your phone, then use as a wallpaper. Don't want to choose? Save both!
Sidenote: If you like the green one, I have a set of five green phone wallpapers for purchase here!
May God's unfailing love be your comfort 💖
Amazon links in this email are affiliate links. If you click through and make a purchase, I may receive a small compensation at no extra cost to you.
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