Giving Up Our Demands For Comfort

by Jan Jackson Peterson

 

I was reading "A Call To Die" by David Nasser and in it he said that when we follow Christ we give up our demands for comfort. Ideally, this should be true. But often times Christians get comfortable and they end up stuck in a rut, afraid to step out in faith when God calls them to action. Destinies are thwarted and opportunities missed when we walk in fear. And yes, I've been afraid to do things that God wanted me to do so I know all too well how it feels when you realize you just missed a God moment. Years ago I was singing on a praise team and God was speaking something to my heart to speak out to the congregation. I was planning to sing a solo and stayed up after the team went down. In the meantime, the pastor went up to speak about some event. I was standing there waiting to sing the special as the pastor was talking and I could see the clock in the back of the room. Time was ticking by and when it came time for me to sing, I decided not to speak the word I felt God had given me...for time sake. And maybe because I was just a little bit afraid that it wasn't God. Anyway, I went and sat down and listened to the pastor preach the message. Right near the end the pastor says, "I don't know why I'm saying this...I just know God wanted it said..." As you can imagine, it was the exact thing God had spoken to me. I had this horrible feeling in my gut knowing that I had missed my opportunity. And you know, I didn't like that feeling. I'd like to say that was the only time I ever missed it. Sadly, that's not the case. It can be quite uncomfortable when God is requiring something we're not used to doing. But it's an incredible feeling when you know you've stepped out and it was God. Another time I was singing with a team and the lead singer had stopped singing and the music was just playing. In the back of the room I saw a woman weeping and praying. I started getting words to sing. It was like God was telling me, "Sing this." Well, I was having this battle in my mind as I was standing there. It was kind of like, "I'm afraid. What if it's not You God?" And then it was like I heard a voice saying, "Ill meet you there." I couldn't get a peace so I finally stepped out and sang the song. Or let me rephrase that...I sang one line of a song. I didn't know from line to line what was gonna come out next. Talk about walking by faith.  But God met me in that moment and sang a song through me. After the service was over, the woman who had been crying in the back of the room came up and told me that I was singing an answer to what she was praying. I thought, "Wow! That's incredible. It really was God."

When we learn to fully trust God with our lives and to rely on Him no matter what He may ask, we can know that He will direct our steps in a way that will fulfill His plans and purposes. Changes (in us, in our location, etc) may be required in the process. So we have a choice to make. Be obedient and go with the changes or refuse to change. Stepping out of our comfort zone may also be required. But as my pastor friend used to say, "Rest assured, God's will will be done." So yeah, even if we miss it or refuse to accept change God will still find a way to get the job done. But that should never be an excuse not to obey. God doesn't want to bring harm to us. The things He requires are for our good, for the good of others, and most importantly, for the building up of His kingdom.  So yeah, when we choose to follow Christ we should be ready to give up our demands for comfort. And we should definitely be ready for change.