comfort zone

I used to own a pair of comfy shoes.

Pointy-toed and sparkly with just the right amount of heel. They looked great with a nice pair of jeans. And when I traveled, they felt like slippers as I walked through the airport.

The ends of both pointy tips — if you looked close — were fraying.

The cushion in the sole had slid sideways so I glued them. Everything about them said that it was time to buy a new pair of shoes.

Except I loved these shoes.

Yeah, it was obvious that it was time to move on. But I just kept on wearing them, ignoring the frayed tips. Hoping nobody would notice. Pretending they were still shiny and functional.

Like those shoes, sometimes I find a comfortable spot or attitude or place in my faith or life. God may be nudging me to stretch, to believe big, or to toss out what’s not working to embrace the new, but I hang on to what is comfortable.

I remember the day I threw the shoes in the trash.

I also remember times that I threw away my fear or my apathy to reach for what God was offering.

To live free we stretch.

Stretch (verb): be made or be capable of being made longer or wider without tearing or breaking.

We do so because our comfort zone can become a mountain we willingly never climb.

We Is God asking you to stretch spiritually? Emotionally? In your relationship with others? In your attitude?

Are you holding tight to something that is keeping you stuck?

Toss it out.

Embrace the new.

Let’s do it together.

Stre—ttttch!

Suzie

Take It Deeper

Scripture: Don’t fool yourself into thinking that you are a listener when you are anything but, letting the Word go in one ear and out the other. Act on what you hear! Those who hear and don’t act are like those who glance in the mirror, walk away, and two minutes later have no idea who they are, what they look like. James 1:22-24 (The Message) 

Today: Are there things that you are hanging on to that are frayed and worn out from overuse?

Like your temper? Like that protective wall that keeps others at bay?

That excuse you keep making when God asks you to step out in faith and do something new and adventurous?

It’s not about the success. You might lose your temper again. You might have to break down that wall a few times before it comes down permanently. But eventually, as you stretch, it becomes less stretching and more about the growth taking place in you.