As Pastor Jason announced the word God gave Him for our church this year - “uncomfortable” - I had to send a quiet smile up to the Lord. The past few weeks, He has been relentlessly teaching me this lesson…all beginning with our trip to Indiana for my husband’s marathon.
My husband has been running more seriously for the past few years, and it has been an actual joy to watch him do this because we both came from a background in running and met on a team in college. I have had a front row seat watching God blossom his gift of running once again. As we’ve gotten older and had kids, I think both of us thought our running days were behind us. But God said, “not quite yet!” And this year, my husband had his eyes set on a race in Indiana.
Initially, I was excited and couldn’t wait to take a trip with my family. But over the weeks leading up to it, and even while we were on the trip, my heart started to grow weary. It had been a very busy October and November, and I felt like the last thing I wanted to do was fly across the county and see this race. Even typing those words feels so selfish, but I knew that God was exposing the selfishness in my heart for a reason. It was painful, like ripping off a band aid to expose a wound.
Possible flight delays, a snow storm coming, sleeping in another bed that I got maybe 2 full hours of sleep in all started to take a toll. On the outside, I was putting on a brave face to be proud of my husband, but on the inside I was screaming for home and the comforts of my own bed. I was overwhelmed and barely holding it together.
It was an honest and brutal reality check when my sweet 10 year old came up to me one day quietly and said, “Are you ok, Mommy? Why is your face like that?”
She knew what I was trying too hard to hide…I was uncomfortable. And my flesh didn’t like it.
November to me is the beginning of the holidays, when I get to plan and decorate and feel cozy in my home. November is also my “birthday month” so I like spending that month doing very “comfortable things.”
But in the middle of Indiana, God decided to whisper something to my heart. In the middle of my struggle with the flesh, and the simultaneous cries to Him for help…He said this: “Erika, your flesh loves comfort. But discomfort is where you serve others. Discomfort is the heart of Jesus.”
The entire trip was this internal struggle with the Lord where I realized that my comfort had become a true idol in my life. Going across the country in November was just not what I wanted to do. I couldn’t hide my flesh, and God was there to catch me as I was falling.
You remember the recent government shutdown that affected all kinds of flights, right? That was exactly the day we were coming home from Indiana. Again, I wrestled with the Lord…pleading for Him to get us home…on time and safely.
But I felt Him talking to me as I prayed. He likes to gently ask me thoughtful questions like “Would you be OK if your flight got delayed?” “Don’t you think I would come through for you?” “Could it be that I would have a purpose behind it all?”
My prayers started to change. Reluctantly, unwillingly, I started to pray… “Ok Lord, I’m going to give up trying to control everything here. If you want me to be uncomfortable, that’s OK. Please, just get us home eventually.”
Miraculously, we got home with no delays (when literally every other flight in that airport was cancelled or hours late). But the lesson He taught me about that trip stayed in my heart. There was a clear exposing of my flesh and selfishness, there was a challenge from the Lord to live outside of my comfortable bubble, and there was an honest surrendering that needed to happen of my plans and my days.
I love what we heard during the baptism on Sunday, “It seems as though these uncomfortable decisions I’m making for the Lord are actually the best decisions of my life.”
Maybe being uncomfortable isn’t really a “bad thing” like our flesh has propped it up to be. Maybe in the discomfort, that’s where we begin to see His hand the most.
I don’t know what the Lord will call you to this year friend, but I do know that His hand will continue to be over your life. There is nowhere you could go where He won’t be with you. So if being uncomfortable feels really scary (like it does to me)…let’s remind our heart that He will always be by our side, no matter what. Wherever He leads, in the uncomfortable or the unknown or just the opposite of what our flesh wants…Lord, may we follow. Amen.
My husband has been running more seriously for the past few years, and it has been an actual joy to watch him do this because we both came from a background in running and met on a team in college. I have had a front row seat watching God blossom his gift of running once again. As we’ve gotten older and had kids, I think both of us thought our running days were behind us. But God said, “not quite yet!” And this year, my husband had his eyes set on a race in Indiana.
Initially, I was excited and couldn’t wait to take a trip with my family. But over the weeks leading up to it, and even while we were on the trip, my heart started to grow weary. It had been a very busy October and November, and I felt like the last thing I wanted to do was fly across the county and see this race. Even typing those words feels so selfish, but I knew that God was exposing the selfishness in my heart for a reason. It was painful, like ripping off a band aid to expose a wound.
Possible flight delays, a snow storm coming, sleeping in another bed that I got maybe 2 full hours of sleep in all started to take a toll. On the outside, I was putting on a brave face to be proud of my husband, but on the inside I was screaming for home and the comforts of my own bed. I was overwhelmed and barely holding it together.
It was an honest and brutal reality check when my sweet 10 year old came up to me one day quietly and said, “Are you ok, Mommy? Why is your face like that?”
She knew what I was trying too hard to hide…I was uncomfortable. And my flesh didn’t like it.
November to me is the beginning of the holidays, when I get to plan and decorate and feel cozy in my home. November is also my “birthday month” so I like spending that month doing very “comfortable things.”
But in the middle of Indiana, God decided to whisper something to my heart. In the middle of my struggle with the flesh, and the simultaneous cries to Him for help…He said this: “Erika, your flesh loves comfort. But discomfort is where you serve others. Discomfort is the heart of Jesus.”
The entire trip was this internal struggle with the Lord where I realized that my comfort had become a true idol in my life. Going across the country in November was just not what I wanted to do. I couldn’t hide my flesh, and God was there to catch me as I was falling.
You remember the recent government shutdown that affected all kinds of flights, right? That was exactly the day we were coming home from Indiana. Again, I wrestled with the Lord…pleading for Him to get us home…on time and safely.
But I felt Him talking to me as I prayed. He likes to gently ask me thoughtful questions like “Would you be OK if your flight got delayed?” “Don’t you think I would come through for you?” “Could it be that I would have a purpose behind it all?”
My prayers started to change. Reluctantly, unwillingly, I started to pray… “Ok Lord, I’m going to give up trying to control everything here. If you want me to be uncomfortable, that’s OK. Please, just get us home eventually.”
Miraculously, we got home with no delays (when literally every other flight in that airport was cancelled or hours late). But the lesson He taught me about that trip stayed in my heart. There was a clear exposing of my flesh and selfishness, there was a challenge from the Lord to live outside of my comfortable bubble, and there was an honest surrendering that needed to happen of my plans and my days.
I love what we heard during the baptism on Sunday, “It seems as though these uncomfortable decisions I’m making for the Lord are actually the best decisions of my life.”
Maybe being uncomfortable isn’t really a “bad thing” like our flesh has propped it up to be. Maybe in the discomfort, that’s where we begin to see His hand the most.
I don’t know what the Lord will call you to this year friend, but I do know that His hand will continue to be over your life. There is nowhere you could go where He won’t be with you. So if being uncomfortable feels really scary (like it does to me)…let’s remind our heart that He will always be by our side, no matter what. Wherever He leads, in the uncomfortable or the unknown or just the opposite of what our flesh wants…Lord, may we follow. Amen.
Erika Pizzo
Erika is an author of various books on the topics of faith, mental health, and victory in Christ. Erika lives with her husband, daughter, son, and their fluffy poodle in sunny Southern California. Her two favorite things are a visit to the beach and a chai latte in hand.