When God pushes you out of your comfort zone

Originally published Sunday, 27 April 2014.

Moses raised another objection to God: “Master, please, I don’t talk well. I’ve never been good with words, neither before nor after you spoke to me. I stutter and stammer.”

God said, “And who do you think made the human mouth? And who makes some mute, some deaf, some sighted, some blind? Isn’t it I, God? So, get going. I’ll be right there with you—with your mouth! I’ll be right there to teach you what to say.” Exodus 4:10-12 (MSG)

I like quiet. I like reading. I like doing most of these things on my own. 

My husband on the other hand likes noise. He likes talking. He likes doing everything with anyone. 

Sometimes this causes problems. It creates a push and pull effect. A simple question like, “Shall we go to this event?” can turn into a long negotiation. 

This happened recently when Xylon received an invite to an event that evening. 

He really wanted to go. I really wanted to go back to our friends’ apartment and have a quiet evening. 

But every objection I brought up Xylon had an answer for. 

A couple of hours later I found myself attending the event with him, listening to speeches by Former US President Bill Clinton and Morgan Freeman, and thinking sometimes it is good to be pushed out of my comfort zone, that sometimes it is only when I do things that make me feel uncomfortable that I learn. 

I live a small life when I stay inside my comfort zone. (tweet this)

The moments when my husband tries to nudge me out my comfort zone often makes me think of the story of Moses in Exodus 3 and 4.

Moses raised another objection to God: “Master, please, I don’t talk well. I’ve never been good with words, neither before nor after you spoke to me. I stutter and stammer.”

God said, “And who do you think made the human mouth? And who makes some mute, some deaf, some sighted, some blind? Isn’t it I, God? So, get going. I’ll be right there with you—with your mouth! I’ll be right there to teach you what to say.”

There is Moses coming up with excuses and God countering every single one. 

There is Moses stammering about being scared and there is God saying I’ll be right with you. 

There is Moses talking his weaknesses and God pointing out His strengths.

As I read this story, I wondered if Moses ever had a moment when he looked back on that conversation and was so grateful that God pulled him away from herding sheep to shepherding people.

Moses would have lived a very small life if he hadn’t allowed God to coerce him into a God-imagined future. 

All of this has made me ask myself, “Am I listening for God inviting me to live a different life? Am I open to him nudging out of my comfort zone into the future only he knows for me?”

Ponder: What uncomfortable thing is God asking you to do right now? Imagine God was countering your objections like he did with Moses what do you think he’d say to you?

Pray: Lord, nudge me out of my comfort zone into the life you’ve imagined for me. Amen (tweet this)

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- This was orginally published on my site in March 2014 to read more devotionals like this go to ilovedevotionals.com

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