Comfortable

Comfortable. When you snuggle up on the couch with a warm blanket, a cup of coffee, and a good movie. When you finally get to fall into bed after a long stressful day. A good pair of yoga pants. Comfort. I am all about it. I love the feeling of a sweet spot. That not too hot, not too cold feeling. But recently the word comfortable was brought to my attention in a whole new context. Being comfortable is easy. It is easy to be content with where you are. Content with your relationships, a job, a friendship. Just the day in, day out routine of your life. Nothing more. Nothing less. Just doing what has/needs to be done. It’s easy to just find yourself comfortable in being right where you need to be. But let’s be honest for a moment, you have never found growth where you were comfortable. There have been many moments in my life, especially since entering college, where I have later looked back and thought “wow, that was a growth moment”. I feel that I have grown so much since high school graduation. But the interesting factor to most of all of those moments have one thing in common. I was uncomfortable. I was not in that sweet spot of knowing what happens next. I was no longer in control of things in my life. I had to put myself out there to meet new people. I had to be uncomfortable to find my place in this big campus. I think it’s a common thing we do. We want to just stay comfortable here until we absolutely have no choice but to move and become uncomfortable somewhere else. But oddly enough, I find comfort in being uncomfortable. Because it is there that I know something is stirring up inside of me for better, or that my situation will soon shift. I want to grow, I long to grow into a better, more mature spiritual person. I am willing to kneel down in prayer and say “here God, I trust you, make me uncomfortable in order to use me”. I think it’s a lot like the potter and the clay. When God spoke to Jeremiah and told him to go down to the potters house, Jeremiah was confused, but none the less he went. When he arrived he watched as the potter pushed and kneaded the clay around, smoothing bumps and lumps, never touching the clay without wet hands, until he finished with a beautiful piece of work. The Bible calls the finished work a ‘vessel’. There are some of us that need to take a trip down to the potters house. And maybe you find yourself already there. Things in your life are being shifted and tugged and kneaded on. It’s hard for you to see past the rough spots and lumps. Yet still, with wet hands, the potter continues molding. It’s uncomfortable there. It’s uncomfortable to find that its your turn to go through the potters house to be kneaded and worked. It can be rather exhausting. But when it’s complete. When the prayers finally come to pass, when that promotion hits, when your cup is over flowing, you can say it was all well worth it. You can look back and say ” that was a growth moment.”.

Everyday were growing, consistently shifting, but it’s when you find yourself in the stillness of comfort that you can easily become just content with where you are. I don’t want to just be content. Becoming content with where you are can mean you’re no longer a strong vessel that the Lord can use. I want to be a vessel. I want to be a lump of clay in His hand. I want Jesus to use me in ways that are higher than myself. And if that comes in being uncomfortable, I never want to be comfortable again.