Who doesn’t love a quiet day on the couch watching tv? Sleeping in until just before noon? Going out and getting whatever you want to eat whenever you want to eat it? Wasting hours on the web, instead of going for a run or working out? The list goes on but I think we all like to be comfortable. I like being comfortable, a lot. I love lounging around all day, laying around on the couch, snacking on some sweets, being unproductive. A few years ago I was on the phone with my mom and we were talking about my future when I said, “Maybe I’ll be a missionary?” She replied, “You like being comfortable way to much to be a missionary.” Not only do I like to be comfortable, but I don’t always enjoy being uncomfortable. I don’t always like pushing myself, making myself run and exercise, talk to people that I don’t get along with, etc. It’s hard. Good things don’t come easy and usually I wish they did.
The World Race will take away my comfort. It will take away my personal space, my personal time, my own desires and wants. I’ll have to wake up early, be inconvenienced constantly, and see poverty and the reality of multiple troubling situations and evils in the world. My comfort can easily turn into my priority, so what do I do? My mission is to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ throughout the world wherever I go, and my own comfort will have to be surrendered in order to do that. At training camp this week I have been challenged to drop it. Carrying logs that symbolize my comfort up steep hills and through trees and brush was trying. Sweat was pouring down my face, soaking my shirts, and I was pushed hard. I was definitely uncomfortable. Eventually the logs I was carrying were laid at a cross at the end of the trail. While it was great to lay down the logs, my comfort is something that will have to be laid down continually and surrendered to God. In order for me to be effective with my teammates and to those we are trying to impact, I will have to lay it down daily.
Laying my comfort down daily doesn’t start when we leave in January. It starts when I get home, it starts tomorrow, it even starts tonight. I will push myself to wake up early and run, talk to people I don’t know, call potential supporters and talk to them about my journey, and discipline myself to do the things that need to be done. I have experienced amazing love through Christ and I cannot go deeper there and be prepared for departure in January without laying down my comfort. So if you are reading this, please pray for me. Pray for discipline, courage, and perseverance. Pray that my team and I will be ready to go come January and be prepared to share the love that we have known.
