Comfort Zone

When my alarm went off at 5:15 this morning, I almost cried. This would have been a great morning to sleep in. The weather is getting cooler, I was in the middle of a deep sleep, great dream that didn't make any sense, in a cold room under warm sheets, with the sprinkler system hitting the window like rain, and a slow trickle of drool running down my cheek.

I was in the zone.

It's hard to leave the zone when you're that comfortable.

It's always hard to leave the comfort zone. I mean, why would you leave if you're comfortable?

Yet I noticed something the other day: The vast majority of significant leaders throughout the Bible weren't primarily used by God until He took them out of their comfort zone.

God called Abraham out of his homeland (Genesis 12), Jacob had to leave home (Genesis 27:41), Moses' mom took Moses out of the comfort zone (Exodus 2:1-7), and then he got to flee again later (Exodus 2:15) only to go back (Exodus 3:10), and leave again (Exodus 12). Joseph's brothers "helped" Joseph leave the zone (Genesis 37:28). It was true of Daniel (Daniel 1:1-6), Jonah (Jonah 1:2), Jeremiah (Jeremiah 2:2), and the disciples (Matthew 28:18-20). It's true of us too.

When we're out of our comfort zone, we're dependent on God. We're keyed in on what He's doing because we have to be. We do what He calls us to because we're already uncomfortable so we might as well. And we find that most often, it is on the ragged edge of life that God is working most powerfully - not in the places where we're comfortable.

As nice, warm, peaceful, and restful as my bed is, it's hard to make a difference in there. I've got to face the cold hard world because that's where God is at work and I want to be a part of it.

What comfort zone is preventing you from being used to the full extent of what God wants to do through you?