Comfortably Uncomfortable

Lately the Lord has been opening my eyes to my need to get uncomfortable. That sounds strange doesn't it? Why would God want me to be uncomfortable? Well, for one....life isn't about my happiness or comfort level. You might want to read that again like this: Life isn't about your happiness or comfort level. Don't shoot the messenger, I have a hard time grasping that at times as well. However, I believe God calls us instead to live a life of being comfortably uncomfortable.

Psalm 119:19 says "I am a sojourner on the earth; hide not your commandments from me!" 1 Peter 2:11 starts by saying "Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles...." John 15:19 goes further to say "If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you." Hopefully you get the point, as believers, this world is not our home. 2 Corinthians 5:1 tells us "For we know that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in heaven." This earth is temporary for the believer. One day when our human bodies (tents in previous verse) die, we will have fully glorified and perfect bodies in heaven for all eternity. So what does this have to do with being comfortably uncomfortable? Glad you asked. :)

In light of eternity, we need to get better at the situations in our lives that feel uncomfortable. Maybe it is just me but how many times have you been in a situation like this...You are at an event (I know those are limited right now) and you are chatting and socializing with those you know. You see someone that looks a little out of place and by themselves. You shrug it off and keep chatting with your friends. Now, I know this is a very simple analogy, but try and see the point. Why didn't I/you/we go up to that person and introduce ourselves? Why didn't we grab a friend and suggest we both go say hi? Maybe you did. Sometimes I do. However, sometimes I am that out of place person. I think we avoid those situations for a few reasons but the one I want to target today is that we are just plain uncomfortable reaching out. I know I am guilty. I think things like "they will think I am stupid", "someone else will go up to them, it doesn't need to be me.", "I doubt we have anything in common." and the list could go on and on. God is showing me that is not how His people should behave.

There are countless situations where this could take place. Someone being treating poorly, a fellow believer participating in an obvious sin, a friend speaking about someone behind their back, etc. All situations that we avoid the confrontation (whether possibly positive or negative) because it is uncomfortable. We make excuses (guilty!) like "that's not my personality, I am introverted", or "I don't know what to say, I would just make a fool of myself", and many many others. Philippians 2:3-4 says "Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others." Now I don't know about you, but I have heard those verses many times in my life. I mostly had looked at them from the viewpoint of - being willing to go above and beyond for someone in need, to put my selfish reasons for not helping aside and be willing to aid someone. While, that's not a bad idea, I don't think it is the whole point.

I think when we count others more significant than ourselves and look to the interests of others, we are willing to go into those uncomfortable situations. We are willing to be awkward and say the hard things (for those reprimanding situations) and be full of grace and compassion for those around us. Am I good at this? Absolutely not. Do I think I need to be? Yes. I think we all need to be. What opportunities do we pass up each day to speak life into those around us? To spur each other to love and good works (Heb 10:24)? What blessings are we missing because we don't want to feel uncomfortable?

This can go into the physical side of our lives as well. I think about my daughter playing basketball this year. She has kind of been one in the past to quit when things get hard. When she gets tired, she just can't go on kind of thing. I remember telling her before her first real basketball practice on a middle school team that she needed to be ok with being uncomfortably tired. That she needed to push herself when she came up to that feeling in order to get better. If she always slacked off when she got wore out, she wouldn't make the improvements that were possible. That's exactly what we can do when we start to get uncomfortable during a workout or when there is food around us that we want to eat, but know we shouldn't. Be ok with being uncomfortable. Get comfortable in those situations. Just so you know, I am 100% speaking to myself in this as well. :)

So Christian, the next time you (and myself) are tempted to ignore a situation because it will be awkward or uncomfortable, I urge you to reconsider. God calls us to put the needs of others above our own. We do that when we follow His leading and approach those around us, when we confront a fellow believer to spur them onto righteousness, when we love the hard to love and many other potentially uncomfortable situations. Live a life that is comfortable being uncomfortable. Does it get easier? Maybe. Even if it doesn't, listening to the Lord and His Word is never a bad thing. Praying for you all. I love you. Till next time.