Comfortable?

2005 is about comfort for me; or more specifically, moving away from comfortable.  Starting early in the year, everything I am reading or studying seems to be returning to the same theme.  Our pastors did a wonderful sermon series in January through March of this year called "Lessons from the Journey" (see here)  The sermons were about the Israelites 40 year journey from Egypt to the Promised Land.  Part of what I took from their story was that God is inviting me personally to cross over to the promised land He has planned for my life.  The women's bible study that winter paralleled those messages beautifully; again encouraging us to stretch our faith and believe that God has more in store for our lives than we can even imagine.  About the same time, I got a great CD called "Conversations" by Sara Groves.  Below are some of the lyrics to one of my favorite songs from the CD.  I think it captures how many of us feel about leaving the familiar, good or bad, for the unknown of God's promise:

The past is so tangible
I know it by heart
Familiar things are never easy
To discard
I was dying for some freedom
But now I hesitate to go
I am caught between the Promise
And the things I know

I've been painting pictures of Egypt,
I've been leaving out what it lacks
The future feels so hard,
And I wanna go back.
But the places that used to fit me,
Cannot hold the things I've learned
Those roads were closed off to me
While my back was turned.

Strangely enough (I'm a slow learner), the theme is continuing into this fall season through Sunday School and our new bible study. Peter leaving the safety of the boat to walk to Jesus on the water, and Abraham accepting God's invitation to leave the familiar for the promise of the unknown...more stories speaking to the same challenge.  To get to the "good stuff" that God is offering, we have to step out of the familiar, the comfortable, the relative safety of what we already know.  Even if the safe and comfortable is a little boring (or even downright bad,) at least it doesn't feel so out of our control.  If we really step out in faith, if we REALLY trust Him with every aspect of our lives, if we agree to do something that we KNOW we can't do on our own strength, if we allow Him to use us for something bigger than we are capable of achieving, what might happen?  That's the thing...you won't know, and I won't know, until we take that leap, get out of that boat, put our foot into that river.  But, I'll tell you a secret, once you do, even just a little, you won't want to go back.  This is a ride that I don't want to miss, do you?

Comments

[Neil]

I can't say I'm a big fan of Sarah Groves, even though she's a Minnesota girl! However my daughter loves her and I love that line, 'But the places that used to fit me, Cannot hold the things I've learned.' The more I grapple with the changing nature of our culture and world the more I realize that the old paradigmns just don't fir any more. As I read recently, 'If John Doe enjoyed what was a 'contemporary' service ten years ago, he faces a problem. For him to enjoy that style, he must find a place that isn't adapting and updating.'
Allow God to push you to new frontiers, you can't ever go back.