[Discoveries] 02-21-08 Comfort -- Genesis 5:28-29

[Inspiration in Your Inbox]

/*When Lamech had lived 182 years, he had a son. He named him Noah and 
said, "He will comfort us in the labor and painful toil of our hands 
caused by the ground the LORD has cursed." -- Genesis 5:28-29*/

We look for comfort in strange places. My first response when I read 
this is to say, "Asking a child to bring comfort to the parents is a 
laying a heavy burden on a child. Shouldn't it be the other way around?"

It appears that Lamech is saying, "God has cursed the ground. That hurts 
us. That puts God against us. So we cannot go to God for comfort because 
God is only interested in our discomfort. We cannot find comfort in 
ourselves. So the only thing we have left is our children."

Us vs. God. The classic lie. God won't help us so we need to look 
elsewhere.

I don't know. Maybe Lamech's thoughts were more lofty than I give him 
credit for. But look at what God did with Lamech's words. Noah did bring 
comfort, though in a far different way than Lamech must have imagined. 
Noah brought the human race to the other side of the flood, to a place 
where violence no longer covered the earth.

There, on the other side of the flood, Noah built an altar to the LORD, 
replacing murder with worship. And God responded by bringing the comfort 
that could only come from God. In Genesis 8:21, "The LORD smelled the 
pleasing aroma and said in His heart: 'Never again will I curse the 
ground because of man, even though every inclination of his heart is 
evil from childhood.'"

Even when we look elsewhere for our comfort, in the end it will come 
from God.

Be encouraged!
Dwight

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