Living Outside of Your Comfort Zone

            As I have written before, we are a people resistant to change. We rarely see it as something good. Or if we do look forward to change, we find some way to worry about all of the pieces out of our control. Some changes bring us sadness, make us frustrated, and some cause us to worry. Some change may even confuse us to no end. However, all of these feelings are temporary. ALL change has a purpose. Whether we planned for the change to happen or not, it will be used. Whether it was the initial path God wanted for us or not, He will still use it if we are ultimately living our lives for HIM. Every season of our lives, every change, has its purpose. ALL changes ultimately bring us growth. 

            The kind of change I want to talk about today is the kind that pushes us out of our comfort zones. Sometimes we get so comfortable where we are in our relationships with Christ or how we are serving Him, that we lose sight of the bigger picture. We start to merely go through the motions and we come to a standstill. 

            As followers of Christ, we should be striving to become more Christ-like every day. We should be seeking out God’s will in every aspect of our lives. However, when we reach that standstill, this becomes much harder. A standstill prevents us from truly doing God’s will. A standstill can hold us back from reaching our God potential and can also prevent us from sharing the word of God with others.

            God has a plan for all of His children. He has blessed us all with gifts and talents that we can tap into in order to bring Him glory. When we hit a standstill, we may forget about those gifts we have or we are unable to truly tap into those gifts and talents. This is why it is important to push ourselves out of our comfort zones. Push ourselves to go above and beyond where we are. If we want to grow spiritually and become more Christ-like, we have to experience change that makes us “uncomfortable”. Change will not always be something we want or like. However, that unwanted change can ultimately bring us growth by pushing us out of our realm of comfort. 

            God has always pushed His children out of their comfort zones. In Genesis 12, God commanded Abram to leave Harran at the age of 75. I can only imagine how Abram felt; to be pushed out of the comfort of his country at such an age. In Exodus 6, God pushed Moses to be a leader to people who did not want to listen to Moses. Moses questions whether he is a good speaker and capable of leading others. However, God chose Moses for the job and knew Moses would grow into the leader that was needed.  

            This past Monday we celebrated the life of an amazing man of God who lived his life out of his comfort zone in order to bring equality to the people of this county. He knew change needed to happen and lived each day uncomfortably. Martin Luther King Junior knew in order to live out God’s will, he could not go through the motions.

            Stepping out of our comfort zones will lead to so many amazing things. Imagine the plan God has for you. Are you putting His plan on hold by remaining in a place of comfort? Think about your relationship with Jesus and how you are serving Him. Do you feel like you are just going through the motions sometimes? If so, make today the day you step away from being comfortable.

~Cassandra Whitworth