170. When Discomfort Makes You Uncomfortable

Discomfort. I'm venturing to say it's no one's favorite word. In fact, Dictionary.com defines the noun discomfort as, an absence of comfort or ease; uneasiness, hardship, or mild pain or anything that is disturbing to or interferes with comfort. Thesaurus.com adds the synonyms of trouble, unpleasantness, and annoyance. Yeah, no one likes discomfort. At least no one I know, including me.

I, instead, like comfort--comfort food, my comfy blanket, my comfortable home, and my for-the-most-part comfy life. Oh, there's parts of it that aren't so comfortable, but I choose not to focus on those things. Yes, I like comfort. I would say I almost crave comfort.

But I've learned what I crave isn't always what's best for me.

I crave chocolate chip cookies, but eating them for every meal won't benefit my health.

I also crave sunshiny and 75-degree days every day, but I'm guessing months and months of it would lead me to boredom and complacency.

Some days I crave lying in my bed longer than necessary. Too much of that isn't best for me either.

Just because I crave something doesn't mean it's what God desires for me. I fully realize comfort isn't always my friend. Even though I like to hang out with her for extended periods of time! But it never fails, when I get comfortable for too long, God seems to--subtly or not!--remind me that comfort isn't the goal in this life, but the courage of follow Him is. God cares more about my character than my comfort. Deep down, I care about that more, too.

One life-changing truth I continue to learn is this:

When discomfort makes you uncomfortable, you don't have to run from it.

We dig into the story of Jonah in the Bible and how not facing what was uncomfortable landed him in the belly of a giant fish and he ended up very angry. I also share how one way God is teaching me about discomfort and how it's not always such a bad thing as we often think it is.

We are exploring this idea of embracing discomfort in the next few episodes, because I believe it's time to step out of our comfort zones to embrace the abundant life Jesus came to give us. We no longer have to be fearful of discomfort. I invite you back next week to dig a little deeper with me. As I say often, life is one big adventure with God. I can't wait to explore the next part of this adventure with you! I'm cheering you on as you embrace what's uncomfortable today. God bless you!

Links in this episode:

• Jonah 4 NIV
• Speak Life: Embracing God's Truth in Self-Talk, our next women's Evening of Encouragement
• Stay encouraged daily with tools and resources found in my free Resource Library