Are you drooling yet?
I love being comfortable, in fact, I have been convicted recently that I might love it just a little too much...and it may just be time for me to step away from the fireplace and get out of those sweatpants and fuzzy socks.
I'm not saying comfort is a bad thing, but I am saying that too much of it certainly can be. I live a pretty "comfortable" life. I have a roof over my head, I get a check every other week, I never worry about where my next meal will come from, and I surround myself with people that are a lot like me. I find comfort in all of those things.
For twenty of the last sixty days, however, I decided to leave a lot of that comfort behind. Ten of those days were spent in El Salvador, which was an incredible experience. (You can read more about that here) The other ten of those days were spent bouncing around Europe. On both of those trips, I had no choice but to experience different cultures, attempt to communicate in at least 4 different languages, sleep in places I never desire to again, and eat food that my body doesn't know what to do with. Don't get me wrong, I am not complaining! Most of that I asked for, even chose.
At the time I didn't necessarily love being put in those "uncomfortable" situations, but since being back and having time to process I have realized that not only did those experiences make me so much more aware of my sin, but they also brought me to my knees and forced me to be totally dependent upon the Lord.
You see, on both trips I was forced out of my comfort zone and put in places and situations that I had never experienced before. I was forced to seek the Lord and ask for his provision because I had no knowledge of my own to draw from.
Woof. Let THAT sink it.
I was forced to seek the Lord and ask for his provision because I had no knowledge of my own to draw from.
Let me explain by using a really weird analogy because the Lord has a really great sense of humor and uses those quite often to teach me...
When I am in a place that's comfortable and known then I don't have to think twice about where I am going to get my next meal or lay my head that night. I know that there is a Chuy's just a few minutes into town and even a sonic just around the corner. If I'm hungry I know exactly where to go and what to do to satisfy that hunger. I don't feel the need to seek provision because I am so used to operating on my own knowledge and capabilities. When in an unknown place I get a little uncomfortable when I start getting hungry. I have no idea where to even begin to look for food. I don't know the street names or the good/bad places of town. When attempting to operate out of my own capability I could just settle for the first thing that comes along...which is exactly what we did in Paris on our European Adventure. We wandered into a restaurant that was closest to the Eiffel Tower simply because we were tired and hungry and it was the first thing we saw. This resulted in me being terribly disappointed when my "Frankfurter and Fries" came out. What I was expecting to be a gourmet European hot dog (partially because I had seen a delicious looking one earlier and partially because it cost 15 euro) ended up being literally just two boiled Oscar Meyer weenies thrown onto a place next to a pile of french fries. Yup. Did I mention that it cost 15 euro??! Hopefully you share in my disappointment. From then on, we decided to approach our meals a little differently. In fact, we approached our every move differently: we sought the Lord in almost every decision and situation because we didn't know what else to do. When our time in Paris was quickly coming to an end and we only had time for one last stop before catching our overnight train we decided to pray very specifically. We didn't want to end our time in Paris with another overpriced plate of Oscar Meyer wieners. So we prayed, "Lord, please just let us find falafel and a good crepe stand!" We prayed it aloud as we were strolling the streets of Paris. I am not going to say that we were not sincere in this prayer, but at at the same time I can't say that I was really expectant. At least not until we turned a corner five minutes later and saw this...
 |
| ...provision. |
Look at the picture closely and you can see that there is a greek gyro place literally right across the path from a crepe stand. Pretty cool, huh? The best part though is that finding crepes and falafel wasn't something we took for our own and did out of our own knowledge or capabilities. I couldn't find that street again if I tried. We sought the Lord and his provision and it made our falafel and crepes SO much more satisfying.
This is a silly example, I know, but there is a lesson to be learned.
Rather than just taking something for our own and on our own timing, we waited on the Lord. We sought HIS provision and HIS timing. Doing so wasn't us saying that we couldn't find food on our own, it was us humbly admitting that we didn't WANT to. We had already tried and we knew that it only led, ultimately, to disappointment.
So I guess what I am really trying to say is that when I am comfortable it's easy to default to MY knowledge and MY experiences and MY abilities. In doing so, I easily forget that ALL good things come from my Father, the giver of all good gifts and not from myself. It took being uncomfortable in unfamiliar places and situations to see this.
Ellie Holcomb says it beautifully in her song "Only Hope I've Got" ...
I take all the gifts that You have given and I stake my claim like they're my own,
Will You help me when I forget to remember,the good I've got is yours alone,
Because I don't want to tell some arrogant story
or let myself believe I'm you.
I don't wanna be a thief who's stealing Your glory...
Will You help remind me of what is true?
The ONLY hope I've got...
It's You.
I am learning to find the comfort in discomfort, and that it is actually a good thing. Discomfort creates dependence upon my Creator and not myself and that is a GOOD THING!
Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good!
Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him! -Psalm 34:8
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