Kingdom of comfort
This past Sunday, we welcomed special guest speaker, pastor Ezra Soetopo from Alfa Omega Church in Surabaya, Indonesia. Challenging us this week, pastor Ezra spoke of the dangers of living in our comfort zones.
But is being comfortable a sin? Surely not. However, there are definite dangers to consistently living in your comfort zone. One very common misconception about comfort zones is that it’s to do with whether you can live comfortably like having a lot of money or having unlimited amounts of free time. In reality, it’s not your situation that determines your comfort level but it’s your mindset and your gut. Living in your comfort zone brings you a strong feeling of safety, but that can become a false sense of security as living in our comfort zone for too long means we can forget to become risk takers (especially as Christians). We can also forget our purpose in life and instead look to live a sheltered life. Finally, living in our comfort zones means we can lose the greatest asset in life: time.
While there are no passages in the Bible titled “Dangers of Living in Your Comfort Zone,” we look to Biblical figures who show us the dangers of doing so. Take for example Samson, an Israelite judge who led Israel for 20 years.
Samson was born with a special task: to deliver Israel from the hands of the Philistines. While Manoah(Samson’s father) and his barren wife were expecting, the angel of the Lord appeared to them and granted them a blessing in the form of Samson, a child who was Israel’s key to overcoming the Philistine’s violence and oppression upon the Israelites. And Samson did overcome the Philistines in his 20 year reign. He was a well accomplished leader with many war achievements, and yet Samson had his own downfall. He became too comfortable being deemed untouchable and lost focus of God’s original purpose for his life.
Pastor Ezra stressed that we should never allow our comfort zone to stop us from following God’s original purpose, and we can do this in three ways:
Don’t wait for a tragedy to pull you out of your comfort zone but review your life and ask yourself today, “am I living in my comfort zone right now? What can I do to change that?”
Be sensitive to your situation all the time, which includes being sensitive to who you surround yourself with and what you see and hear; evaluate your behaviour!
Ask God to remind you of his purpose for you
Even when Samson had lost his way, was beaten and taken hostage by the Philistines, he remembered his original purpose and called out to God.
Then Samson prayed to the Lord, “O Sovereign Lord, remember me. O God, please strengthen me just once more, and let me with one blow get revenge on the Philistines for my two eyes… Let me die with the Philistines!” Then he pushed with all his might and down came the temple on the rulers and all the people in it. Thus he killed many more when he died than while he lived.” (Judges 16:28-30)
While Samson’s story has a sad ending, the most interesting thing is that God welcomed him back and granted him his final prayer. Disregarding Samson’s past and his misgivings, God granted Samson the power to accomplish this one last thing that would bring Samson back to God’s original purpose. And God can do the same for you.
Dear Heavenly Father,
Thank you that we can learn from Biblical figures like Samson about the dangers of our comfort zone. Thank you that you have given me purpose in my life and if I have forgotten that purpose, Lord, would you remind me? Remind me again what it means to live for you and show me where in my life I’ve been living too comfortably. Renew my heart so that it’s one that seeks to do your will above anything else.
In Jesus’ mighty name,
Amen.