Ah, the infamous ‘comfort zone’. We crave it. We want it. It gives a sense of security and well-being, doesn’t it?
But here’s the thing: the comfort zone is actually quite deceptive. It gives us the illusion of security, the illusion of happiness, of comfort. But oftentimes it’s nothing more than a lie spilling from the lips of the enemy because hewants us to be complacent, ineffective and, quite frankly, too comfortable to get up off our backsides and do something.
You see, great heroes of faith, the men and women who have changed history and shook up the world all had one major thing in common: they were willing to step outside their comfort zones.
Get a list going in your head…Noah building the ark, Abraham traveling to an unknown land, Moses confronting Pharoah and leading the nation of Israel for years upon end, Ruth leaving all she knew to care for Naomi, David standing before a bone-crushing giant, Esther risking her life to save her people, Jeremiah telling a nation to submit to their enemy, Daniel trapped in the darkness with starving lions, Paul being shipwrecked, beaten, stoned, whipped and left for dead to preach God’s love…the list goes on and on. And of course, the greatest example is Jesus, who left all the glory of Heaven to wrap Himself in our weak flesh and face the cruelest death on earth so we could live.
Do you want a boring life? Do you want to be ineffective as a servant of God? Stay in your comfort zone. But if you want a life full of adventure, full of jaw-dropping stories, of power, of leading people to Jesus, a life that pleases the Father, you must be willing to take a step outside the zone. Folks often mock Peter when he took his eyes off Christ and began to sink into the sea, but hey, Peter was the only one willing to get out of the boat!
Don’t play into the enemy’s hands and let fear keep you from being all God has called you to be. Getting comfortable with being uncomfortable.
“God is not the author of your comfort zone.” ~Lynn Rayburn
Great post! This is exactly where I am. Getting comfortable being UNcomfortable. But I’ve found the more you do it the easier it gets.
Thanks so much, Nichole!