Embracing Change as You Step out of Your Comfort Zone

Ask yourself the following questions to determine your comfort zones:

• When was the last time I took on something new and challenging? (I mean really challenging, not just something you don’t like or something you have an aversion to.)
• Do I do things with people who are not my relatives?
• When was the last time I spoke with – or reached out to – someone who was unsaved?
• When I discover I disagree with a friend of mine, does that disagreement end our friendship?
• When it’s suggested that I need to leave someone behind in my life or maybe stop relying so much on family members, what is my response?
• What is the one thing that I insist I cannot – or will not – give up, even if God asks it of me?

The questions above reveal our comfort zones – areas in our lives where we find ourselves complacent and at ease. Where are your comfort zones?

The plain truth about comfort zones

Human nature demands we have comfort zones. They are part of survival. To survive, we like to know what is coming next. As a result, we find we gravitate toward things that make us comfortable. In a comfort zone, we find an immediate sense of security: we feel a certain level of control, and have a certain level of faith in our ability to control our environment.

Human beings like the feeling they are in control. It’s not something we like to talk about or face, but it’s true. Sure, none of us like dealing with controlling people, nor do we like that sting of dominance when someone comes along who has to have things their way…but there’s a truth in that we equally dislike: we often create that very existence through our comfort zones.

How do we, as Christians – and especially as leaders – create comfort zones for ourselves? We all know that Christian leaders are called to go beyond what’s comfortable, especially if we study the lives of those in the faith. We like to quote various passages and encourage people to “go into the unknown” and “go beyond limits,” but we forget that many of those limits we encourage people to go beyond, we ourselves don’t like to venture past them.

God makes our comforts uncomfortable

God can make us very uncomfortable in our comfort zones if we remain in them for too long. I know of this from personal experience. For many years, I did certain things as part of my ministry work. I did them the way I always did them, even if they didn’t seem to work for me like they did for others. Then, one day, I was no longer comfortable being a figurehead and standing on the sidelines looking at whatever was happening. I felt like I wasn’t taking enough initiative. I wasn’t in the work in the way I, as the apostle in the situation, needed to be.

Were there reasons why the ceremonial role became such a focus? Sure. I was dealing with people that technically were not “my” people. The decisions were just not about me, but others as well. These decisions ran the risk of affecting others in a larger way. That ceremonial position left me questioning just what my role was in terms of decision-making in the situation.

This is an example of the comfort zone not working anymore. I tried to hold my own status quo and venture out (out of God’s timing), but it wasn’t going to work. I came to accept where I needed to be, and moved forward into where God had me to be. Now, God doesn’t desire for me to remain in that zone. He now takes me to another level, often unknown to me.

The example of Abram

This experience makes me think about Abram’s command in Genesis 12:1-3:

“The Lord said to Abram, ‘Leave your land, your relatives, and your father’s home. Go to the land that I will show you.  I will make you a great nation, I will bless you. I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you, I will curse. Through you every family on earth will be blessed.’” (GWT)

We love to romanticize the experiences of Abram because we know the end result. Down the line, we see the fulfillment of God’s prophecy to Him. We know the blessings He received (and we also receive) as a result. We don’t stop, however, and think about all the things that must have gone through his mind. Leave the nation he knew forever? Leave his family? Leave all his friends? Venture out of the comfort zone?

God didn’t tell him where he was going, only that his time there was up, and he needed to move on to the new territory. We focus on the obedience, which is relevant, powerful, and yes, desirable, but we never consider the process that went into that obedience.

Surrendering our doubts – and control – to God

I don’t question for a second that Abram had his doubts. He thought twice about it. I’m sure he also wondered why in order to be blessed, he had to leave everything comfortable and familiar to find it. The reason is simple: in our comfort zones, we really don’t need to be blessed, because we are in control. We know what is coming, we know where we are going, and we know what to expect.

Whether we like the circumstances we are in or not, we have a sense of control that limits us and our ability to experience and receive from God in new and different ways.  The blessing of God doesn’t lie in our constant flocking to what we always know – it lies in the unknown, in those situations and circumstances that require us to rely upon Him, and only Him, and find Him in everything we see, do, and need.  Blessing lies as we give up control – and surrender to God.