June 29, 2011

am I too comfortable?

this whole idea of being comfortable started late May of this year. I went to an event for a local christian high school to watch a movie some of the students/my friends made. I loved it, I loved going to the event, I loved getting to see my friends from Teen CBS, from Op Camp, from church & seniors that I've photographed - all in one place. I loved to support my friends that made the movie but a lot of why I loved it & why I went was for social reasons - I loved getting to high five and hug all of my high school aged friends. It was fun. It was easy. It was comfortable to me. I was in "my element".

But I left that night with this notion that we are not called to be comfortable. Everything in life isn't easy. God never said it would be easy. Now, I'm not saying there was anything wrong with me going to that event - I have just started to question my motives. Then I started to think about some other high schoolers I know that don't have as many people who come and support them on their special nights. I thought about how much harder, less comfortable, and less fun it would be to seek them out and find out when their big events were & go support them. How much more would it mean to someone who doesn't have a line of people out the door who love and support them?

I've been wrestling with this idea for a while: getting uncomfortable. I feel like God has given me a pretty good idea of what He wants me to be involved in next year {more on that later} and most of it are things that {at first} aren't going to be the following: easy, fun, or comfortable. They will be challenging, I will be clinging to the Spirit for help before, during and after. I expect I will be loving in a way that I don't normally love. I will get to set myself and what I want aside & give up what is fun and easy for me for what is life changing for others.

Since God has been revealing this all to me several things have happened. I've been excited and ready to go, I've been disappointed, I've been discouraged, I've seen glimpses into what could be really great, and I've let the enemy tell me lies. But tonight I'm choosing to believe that God will prepare me, equip me, and walk with me in whatever it is that He has in store. It isn't always what I think or what I want it to look like but His plans are always best.

I'm clinging to those promises. I'm hoping for the future, and trying to spend a lot of intentional time in prayer for the students He's called me to work with and for my heart to change for them. I've found recently that the more you pray for someone - the more your heart grows softer for them and the more you love them.

Do you struggle like me with wanting to stay in your comfortable bubble?

7 comments:

  1. YES! I struggle with this daily...and it's so encouraging to be reminded that God doesn't call us to sit back and be comfortable. Thank you for this post Wynne- beautifully written.

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  2. You are wise beyond your years in this area. This has been the "theme" of my walk with the Lord for the past couple years. After 9 months of living in OKC and being removed from my "comfort zone" (my church, my friends, my 'activities', my restaurants...I know...VERY shallow of me, etc) I FINALLY FINALLY FINALLY realized what God was trying to teach me. At what point did I think being a Christian was about ME and MY comfort? The Bible clearly gives story after story about Jesus calling us to be like Him which pretty much always means 'out of our comfort zone'. I could go on and on about this because I've been living this lesson since we moved to OK. But I won't take up your blog space;) Thanks for sharing!!!

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  3. I love this post! Yes, I struggle too with all the same things you listed and God has been putting the SAME THING on my heart lately. Getting our of my comfort zone is, well, uncomfortable! haha But, it's so worth it to follow Jesus into the hard places to love those who can't or won't love you back and to serve when it hurts. Learning these lessons slowly and trying to live it daily...

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  4. girl i love this, i need u to guest post this bestie xoxo

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  5. This was something I needed to hear. Thanks so much for sharing your thoughts, Wynne. :) I feel like I constantly have this "want to be comfortable" mindset, and yet I realize that it's the times in my life when I've been the least comfortable that I've actually done the most for Christ. I know He's calling me to get out of my comfort zone so I can better serve and better love those around me. Again, thanks for sharing. I love reading your blog!

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  6. So humbled to be your friend...thank you for sharpening me day after day....

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