Uncomfortable, But Soaring!

I don’t know about you, but I like comfortable, routine, predictable. Many of you reading this might be bored with predictability, but others will identify with my comfort zones! Now, I’m not so naive to think life is usually within my preferred “zones”. Normal life is really not like this, and even though I do not always enjoy the changes that come, I’ve seen God’s hand as He has done much in those unexpected and often daunting experiences.

I recently finished a book by Stacey Thacker, Fresh Out of Amazing.

Stacey shares a story about eagles that I was surprised by, and yet identified with. Before the baby eagle learns to fly, the mother eagle makes the nest uncomfortable so he won’t want to stay any longer. She wants her baby to soar to new heights. Heights that the baby can’t imagine within the confines of the nest.

Isn’t that a beautiful picture of how God calls us outside our places of familiarity and comfort to draw us into new “heights” with Him? I’ve written often on the topic of going deeper in our walk with Jesus (read these posts: Great Success to Great Fear , The Safety of the Cove, Where Is That Reef?) because that is how He continues working in my life…often with me kicking and screaming because I’d rather stay put!

He so desires for us to trust Him in situations that normally cause us to doubt and fear. He sees those other “heights” He wants us to know. Fear and doubt would prohibit us from experiencing these.

Or since I am at the beach as I write this, I relate this to staying on the shore when we desperately want to sail out deeper. Like a ship tethered to the dock, safe and secure, yet longing to move into deeper waters, which it was created for! And so were we!

Paul often prayed for believers to grow deeper in Christ, encouraging them to never settle for comfort, but reach for new heights of faith in Christ.

Read these prayers and ask Christ to guide you to deeper waters beyond the shore of safety, into the depths of discipleship:

• Ephesians 1:17-19
• Ephesians 3:16-19
• Philippians 1:9-11
• Colossians 1:9-12

Choose one of these to pray daily over yourself and Christians sisters you disciple.

Although I really do like my comfort zones, deep down, I want to trust Him more, and soar like that baby eagle just learning to fly. So I pray God will make me uncomfortable enough in my present “zone” so I can soar even higher in those “God zones!”

Banner photo by Mathew Schwartz on Unsplash