You walk into church and everything is just right. Your coffee is just the perfect temperature and you say “hello” and “good morning” in your happy and normal way. You may even grab an extra cookie on your way to where you normally sit. Your comfort level is at 100%
Then you realize that someone is in your seat. You’ve been displaced. Your Sunday comfort is now shattered.
Comfort Zone
As Christians, sometimes it is so easy to slip into a comfort zone. Christianity is supposed to make everything easy and peaceful, right?. Yes but not necessarily in a human sense. We obtain comfort by sharing God’s peace but not always human comfort.
One of the most powerful things I’ve learned as a Christian is that we are not called to be comfortable. 2nd Corinthians 1: 3-6 says:
"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. For as we share abundantly in Christ’s sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too. If we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; and if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which you experience when you patiently endure the same sufferings that we suffer.”
In this passage, we see that not only will we still face suffering as a Christians but that we also need to learn from our suffering so that we can help others the same way that God has helped us.
Questions to Ask Yourself
Why does it bother you when your seat is taken? Well, sometimes it is easy to get into a routine, a set comfort zone, and potentially even a little bit of selfishness. In other words, you want to be comfortable and not have to reach out to people you normally don’t come in contact with.
How do you react when something disrupts your normal routine?
What other aspects of your life has been disrupted by people not paying attention to you or did things differently than how you wanted?
Do you think that these feelings of discomfort come from wanting to be in control?
Let’s pray,
Father God, sometimes it is so easy to treat our faith as a to-do list. We let life take precedence over living in an active relationship with you. Help us by pushing us outside of our comfort zones. Change our seats, minds, and hearts Lord. Let us be willing to bend with the wind that you throw our way. Help us have courage to face our fears. Let it all be in the glory of your name.
In love we pray,
Amen.
