Stepping Out

Romans 8:28 “And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to His purpose for them”

A warm, fuzzy blanket. A hot cup of coffee. The sound of a basketball pounding the pavement. A drive through the country with the windows down, worship music blaring. The long embrace of a hug and sitting side by side with a loved one in the midst of a hard season of life, feeling completely safe to express every emotion my heart is experiencing.

Comfort. (Oh and ice cream. I can’t forget ice cream.)

What are the things that scream comfort for you? Pause. Ponder for a moment.

Google describes comfort with the following two definitions:

I am so grateful for comfort. We’ve all found ourselves in a state of emotional despair or distress longing for something or someone to swoop in and help ease the heaviness of our feelings. A prayer for our hurting hearts offered up in private, a warm meal prepared by a loving neighbor or sometimes, simply a few sweet words from an unknowing stranger.

God always provides precisely what we need to survive the darkest seasons in our lives. The difficult part, and often the hardest to understand, is that we are subject to His timing. I have found that to be true in every season of my life thus far. God uses our struggles for pruning, to produce great fruit. However, I am often unable to recognize the fullness of God’s faithfulness until I am on the other side of the struggle.

As broken, imperfect humans longing for relief from the heaviness of our emotions we often reach out for comfort in all the wrong places. We tip back the bottle one more time. We pop just a few more pills than prescribed. We retreat into isolation to peek at pornography because “nobody has to know”. The list goes on.

We’ve all succumbed to the bullying of the enemy in one form or another. Often times, it’s much more subtle than we even realize. The enemy uses the brokenness of our past to keep us chained to bondage that prevents us from ever stepping out into the future God has planned for each of us. If we aren’t careful, the whispers of the enemy turns into shouting and our mind is so battered with lies we are unable to see the narrow path leading to the ultimate victory that is already promised through Jesus’ death on the cross.

We have a choice. We can lay down the bottle. We can flush the pills. We can seek help in community. Instead of staying chained to bondage, we can choose to step out of our comfort zone and use the gifts God has given us. That is why I am here. To use my words, share my story and allow Him to work everything together for His good.

We serve a loving and merciful Father who is the God of all comfort. He wants so much more for every single one of us. Psalm 138:3 says “In the day when I cried out, You answered me, and made me bold with strength in my soul”. Cry out to the Lord. His arms are wide open, ready to rescue and embrace us with the fullness of His infinite, perfect love.

#Fear #comfort #new #choice #jesus