My Comfort Zone is Dangerous

Comfort equals confusion; calamity equals clarity. How’s that for an insight into spiritual contradiction? No, this isn’t from Scripture, but I have found it to be true of many principles in Scripture. It’s also what appears to be true in how growing in Christ works out in our real day-to-day experiences.

In my own life, being comfortable can cloud the picture of what God is doing. A comfortable place often makes me lazy spiritually. I find myself praying less, seeking God less, and often finding it hard to recognize the voice of God in my life. Comfort takes the edge off. Yet walking in the Spirit is all about being on edge spiritually.

So here’s the observation to that. When I intentionally step out of my comfort zone, I usually get the greatest bursts of spiritual growth and blessing. A good example is a couple years ago when our church was without a youth pastor and it was time to take the teens to summer camp. Now that was something that I definitely did NOT want to do! But I went anyway (whining about it as I went). That week turned out to be one of the most memorable spiritual highs I ever experienced. Something was awakened in me spiritually that I didn’t even know was there. Yet if I had chosen to remain in my comfort zone, it never would have happened.

Conversely, staying comfortable or just operating in my comfort zone, I notice that my sin seems to be more troublesome than ever. In fact, some of the biggest embarrassments of my life seem to have come about when I was comfortable. I notice that of leaders in the Bible too. For instance, it was while his army was off to war that King David of Israel had the time and the leisure to have an affair with the wife of one of his generals. Our comfort zones seem to be fertile ground for the devil!

In our culture of relative affluence, we keep trying to find comfort when that may be the worst thing for us. It might even be something God will refuse to grant, because He knows how dangerous it is for us. After all, God knows that making us uncomfortable is what it usually takes for us to walk by faith. It takes trial, and testing, and pressure for faith to grow in us, and He loves us too much to rob us of this opportunity. That’s why a little calamity usually clears things up. It’s in these moments of pain and pressure that our faith becomes clearer and more real. Believing God becomes a do-or-die proposition.

This is probably why Christians under persecution in troubled parts of the world always seem to be more passionate about following Christ. They are surrounded by calamity on every side, and yet their faith remains unshakable. They risk their lives to meet together with other believers. They consider a Bible the greatest treasure they could possess. They hold an immense amount of joy in their hearts in complete contrast to their situation.

How many of us here in the Christian U.S. are like that? Not many. Instead, it seems that we take our faith for granted. We often let spiritual things slide, and the result can be confusion about God’s will and our place in it. Our joy over temporal things competes with our joy in Christ. We start to treasure things that we are going to ultimately lose. We get spiritually confused.

I think I need to learn to welcome calamity as an opportunity to grow. I also think I need to be wary of what makes us think we are comfortable. So when I see a situation and am tempted to say, “I’m just not comfortable with this” then that should be a clue that I’m on the right track! In fact, maybe I should only do things that I’m “just not comfortable with.” Perhaps that’s what would produce the greatest fruit in my life!

“Lord, if we find calamity upon us, make our faith strong, and if we feel comfortable, awaken us to distrust the source of our comfort if it is anything other than you.”