Dangerous Comfort

"But God does not call us to be comfotable. He calls us to trust Him so completely that we are unafraid to put ourselves in situations where we will be in trouble if he *doesn't* come through." francis chan, crazy love

comfort. we all appreciate it. cling to it. look for it. but we in our american culture, even in the church, obsess over it...not so good. lets face it. the best things in life do not happen when you're comfortable. really think about it: i'm pretty sure we can all agree that babies are miracles, but the process of pregnancy and delivery - so i've observed anyways...not that i have any personal experience :) - is anything but comfortable. excercise?...comfortable?? yeah right! missions trips? amazing, life-changing, mountain top experiences. but dealing with cockroaches and little parades of ants, going days without showering, probably embarassing onesself in spanish -again not that i have any personal experience... :) - and using squatty potties, hoever, was absolutely NOT comfortable. [but i'd do it all over again in a heart beat. :D] our most important, memorable, and productive conversations are usually not comfortable. - just ask any married guy how "comfortable" it was to ask for his wife's hand in marriage. i can tell you right now that at least my brothers would laugh in your face. :)

we want things that come easy. we want the benefits of our hard work without the pain. we want the blessing of the joy of giving, but not the sacrifice. we want to serve as long it doesn't disrupt our lives and what we want too much. we want to be there for people in need, but we want to avoid awkwardness of accepting them with their pain, grief, sin and needs. we want to love people....but only those that give and love back. we want to love Jesus and stay and live in our comfort zones at the same time.

i'm sorry to break it to ya, but if we're really gonna be Jesus-people, and FOLLOW HIM and obey, our comfort zones go out the window. you have to give till it hurts, and then keep on giving. you have to love the people who not only are indifferent to your kindness, but even hostile towards you. you have to give to and love on even those who cannot or wont repay you anything in return. you have to allow ministry to disrupt your life. if you wanna be a compassionate heart for people, it means feeling their pain and walking through with them not just hearing what's going on in their lives than woosing out.

why is it that we like our comfort so much? i mean really. some of the coolest things happen when you're the most uncomfotable in your entire life! some of the best things take huge risk. some of the best things happen out of acts of complete recklessness. some of the Gods best work happens out of our extreme pain. but how many life-altering, memory-making, heart-changing things happen when you maintain status quo and cling to what we know? yeah, i can't really think of anything either...

so i invite you to dive into The Abundant Life that God has given us and LIVE it. tap into it and take it home with you, and live it out. show it to others, let Him fill you with Himself as you give HIM away. what can you do to shake things up and revolt against the status quo? where is God nudging you out of your comfort zone today? who is He asking you love and give to freely with out expecting anything in return - but just pure giving and pure love? what priorities is God asking you to rearrange? just in general, how does God want to become more famous through your life? i think you get the picture. so now, stop reading, and DO IT and MAKE IT HAPPEN! :)