Row by row the children sat waiting for the day to begin. Each grade 1st-6th waited impatiently for the bell to ring while the principal stood in the front reading from a list of new rules the school was implementing. As I told you in a previous blog the kids here are out of control. Something had to give. They had some expert missionaries come in from the states to monitor and educate the teachers on proper disciplinary methods and reinforcement tools. I stood in the back scanning my four rows for misbehaving children. To one I snatched their toy they were distracted with, to another I had him spit out his chewing gum, to several more I had to reprimand them to be quiet. Suddenly my attention was shifted to the front of the room, the guidance counselor had signaled me to come to the front of the stage. As she introduced herself and why these new rules were being implemented she turned to me and said and now Ms. Stephanie is going to tell you more about behavior and why it is important to God. My heart nearly sank to my foot. I had zero preparation and I had no clue what I was going to say. Partly because what she wanted me to say was the same thing she had previously just said! I could not repeat her, or I would of sounded foolish. I smiled to the crowd while muttering under my breath to her by my side ” What!? Why didn’t you warn me? What in the world do I say? You just said everything!” She said “Just talk.” Now I love people, and I love talking but It does not tickle my fancy to stand in front of hundreds of people unannounced and unprepared. I was completely out of my comfort zone, and I didn’t like it one bit.
God has been teaching me a lot about comfortability and how it’s not an option this side of heaven. God does not call us to be comfortable. It’s true that God may have called you to be exactly where you are. But, it is absolutely vital to grasp that he didn’t call you there so you could settle in and live your life in comfort and superficial peace. It’s in moments of uncomfortability that he will stretch you and mold you more into the image of him. It’s in these moments that I am nervous, fearful, anxious, and on edge. Instead I should be excited and encouraged. When we’re uncomfortable, chances are we’re about to experience some form of abandonment, he is going to ask us to do something, give up something, or go somewhere we don’t want to. The next step would entail embracing brokenness. But it’s in the process of abandonment, and brokenness we come to find a deep dependence on God. We have no other option, because we’ve died to ourselves and God is the only one who can bring us full circle. You can’t be remade until you allow yourself to be unmade.
We are called to press into uncomfortabiity. If you feel uncomfortable something good is probably happening. When we lose focus and run from discomfort we miss our chance to grow. I have had many opportunities on the race to grow and allow God to make me broken and uncomfortable. Living with 7 people is hard, imagine living with 50 people. Living day to day with people from different backgrounds, upbringings, habits, lifestyles, and opinions is not easy. There is a lot of GROWTH to be found here. Talking to people you don’t, know who don’t speak your language is uncomfortable. Taking cold showers, sleeping in tents, and eating things I cant pronounce is totally outside of my typical comfort zone. When I left for the race I had given up a home, a well paying job, and a youth internship that I loved. Everyone called me crazy but I knew I was being called to a life of discomfort. But it is in these moments I feel the Lord giving me another chance to trust him, be dependent on him, and grow to be more like him.
Praying in public took Daniel from a comfortable home to a den full of lions.
Worshiping ONLY God took Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego from their comforts of security, to a fiery furnace and an angry king.
Faithfulness took Mary from the comfort of an ideal life of comfort to a pregnant un-wed girl delivering the Son of God in a barn.
Following God took Moses from the comfort of shepherding a few sheep to leading the Israelites in a dessert to the promised land for forty years.
Obedience to God took Abraham from the comfort of his hometown into an unknown land.
Faith took Esther from the comfort of her castle to the scepter and possible rejection of her king.
Trusting God took David from the comfort of shepherding sheep in the fields to the battlefield and then to the throne as a king.
Love took Jesus from the comforts of Heaven to the pain of enduring the cross.
If there is one thing I’ve Learned in the last 6 months is God doesn’t care about my comfort zone. But he cares enough about me to ask me to leave simply because he has better to offer me and he wants me to experience a life of abundance. He doesn’t call us to settle, he calls us to do the opposite. He said to Go. Go and make disciples of ALL nations. From the beginning of time he has called us into partnership with him to take his name to the nations, to walk out in faith with him, and to follow him into the unknown. He desires for us to press forward through tribulation, and to stop holding onto comfort. All the while he asks us to be thankful even when we don’t understand or know where he is leading us to next.
A team mate of mine got a word for me in her listening prayer the other day. She said God had me on the path he wants. As I continue along the path he is going to BREAK me. But through the pain he wants to comfort me. He wanted me to know he was with me every step of the way. That I wouldn’t be suffering because I did something wrong. But to be reminded breaking has great purpose. God will allow pain in my life so he can build me back up IN HIM, and align my heart with his. In my own listening prayer days prior I felt the Lord telling me he was going to take me higher and higher this year but it was going to be a hard slow road. One in which he is going to stretch me and break me in a lot of ways. As scary as this seems I am excited. I am on a journey that hopefully results in me looking more like my creator. My father. My savior.
The question is Will you allow Him to take you out of your comfort zone?
Out of everything you’ve ever known?
Out of a life that seems ideal?
Out of everything the world says is normal?
Life truly begins at the end of your comfort zone.
My prayer for you and myself is that we will allow obedience to God to take us to unknown places, to do things we never imagined doing on our own, to love people we’ve never met, and to never let this world start feeling like home. I pray that his faithfulness and his word would not only transform our way of thinking but our lives. Ask yourself- if God has asked you to do anything uncomfortable lately? Share your faith with someone you didn’t know? Maybe go back to church for the first time in a long time? Love someone it is hard to like? Use your gifts and talents in ways you never had before? Follow him to an unknown place? To do something you’ve never done? I challenge us to be obedient and walk with him in faith to the end of our comfort zones just like all the many great men and women of the Bible. He provided faithfully for them and he will do the same for us.
Ships are safe in a harbor. But that’s not what ships were made for.
