When Comfort Gets in the Way

The last few weeks I’ve been restless, feeling a missing element in my days. I took inventory to see what might be lost: a healthy family and sturdy home were present;  food and clothing plentiful; security existent; needs abundantly provided; “extras” scattered everywhere; and opportunities available in all directions.

We were comfortable—too comfortable. And I am grateful. But therein also lay the problem: life had become somewhat stale in our routine-laden, comfortable existence. We are busy, very busy, but it is generally a busyness with things of little lasting value.

Sameness has turned into more sameness, allowing the walls to close in and become stifling. Our days have taken on a cadence of the mundane.

The usual and comfortable were stealthily stealing away the beauty of living. 

Such is the case when we allow our world to shrink to the four walls of us.  We work (or go to school and its activities), eat, watch T.V., and sleep. And the cycle repeats, endless days after endless days.  Oh we may throw in a shopping day or a couple hours of reading, or even a trip to the park; but lives of little sacrifice—of only reaping, never sewing, of receiving but seldom serving—leave us wanting. (←Tweet this!)

Lost is the adventure, the excitement, the purpose of life itself.  Over time we become blinded to the good things, the gifts of each day: the stark beauty of a sunset, the glorious mystery of a sunrise or season change, the graceful wave of prairie grass in a breeze, the chipper activity of squirrels.

Our lives aren’t meant to be lived only in routine and comfort—to become a habit we follow day after day until our breath finally leaves us. We were created to give and serve and worship. To sing His praises and share His grace. To not just live for us, but to embrace Him and reach out to them.

In order to truly appreciate the lives we’ve been given and the gifts surrounding us, we need to break out of the shells we so carefully constructed—to leave behind some of our comforts. We need to reach out to others … to give so we can truly receive … to move away from the overly comfortable to the sacrificial. We need to lift our eyes from the keyboards and our behinds from the chairs and experience the glory of the Lord as revealed in His creation.

Because the love and goodness of the Lord is always present. We just need to move ourselves out of the way to notice it. (←Tweet this!)

“Surely Your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life … ” (Psalm 23:6a).

Share in the Discussion: What do you do to keep from growing overly comfortable—to remain aware of the glorious world around us and our Kingdom purpose?  

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