OUR COMFORT ZONE

Philippians 3:13-14 NLT … but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us.

There’s probably something in all of us that just wants to be comfortable but there’s more to life than our comfort zone!😊The trouble is we can be trapped in it because we’re afraid to risk stepping into the unknown! There are times though when God ruffles our nest and asks us if we’re willing to give it up so His plan and blessings can be worked out in our lives.

It helps to remember we’re not our own, but we belong to God because He bought us with the blood of Jesus. 

God asks us to obey His instructions and walk by faith not by sight, which will challenge our comfort zone, but then He says this, Philippians 4:13 NKJV I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.😊 So we can do it with His strength, not our own, knowing our faith moves us forward, it never goes backwards.

As I thought about it, I remembered the Holy Spirit is our Comforter, and when we’re in the will of God then that is our true comfort zone. It’s easy to be misled into thinking it’s a place, a way of life, a set of people but it’s much more than that!

It may surprise us but God uses people of all ages when He asks us to do what He wants us to do! Moses was told at 80 to lead a nation, Caleb at 85 took his mountain and conquered it. Samuel was just a small boy who was led to become a great prophet, David was a teenager when he took on Goliath. Deborah was a judge in Israel, probably middle aged, who led an army into victory.

Be encouraged, God still has plans and purposes for all of us. It’s a life of faith and He’s given us His strength and His faith so we can please Him. It may just mean giving up the comfort of our bed a bit earlier to spend some time with God, or to do something different, or move somewhere else but all He asks is a willingness to trust Him and step out of our comfort zone when He asks us to.😊 Amen.

GOD OF ALL COMFORT

2 Corinthians 1:3-4 NIV Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.

We all go through seasons of life when we struggle with the things that are either happening around us, or to us personally. Sometimes it’s through illness or family upsets, other times it could be due to financial difficulties but whatever it is, we can always come back to this certain knowledge that our God is the One who comforts us when it feels too much.

We all know ‘life happens’ because we live in a fallen world, but praise God we are a people of hope because we belong to our loving Heavenly Father who is full of compassion and He totally understands where we’re at. He doesn’t only draw alongside us, He is in us holding us up and strengthening our spirit, and even though we may not realise it or feel it, it is the truth.😊

He doesn’t just comfort us in some of our troubles but He comforts us in ALL of them, no matter how big they are, and one day He says we’ll be able to comfort someone else because of the comfort we’ve received.

The Holy Spirit is our personal Comforter and He brings His peace into the turmoil and gives us His inner strength to call on. He reminds us God’s plans are to give us a future and a hope of better days to come that He gives us His grace to grab a hold of as we need it.

God’s love surrounds us like a shield and that knowledge is the biggest comfort of all knowing that nothing can separate us from His love. We very often don’t know why things are the way they are, but we can rest and be comforted to know our God knows the end from the beginning and we can trust Him with our lives, because He’s already made us secure for eternity through the blood of Jesus.

If you need comfort today, God wants you to know He is right there with you and He’ll never let you go, never abandon you, never leave you without support and His love will never fail you. In Jesus name. Amen.

Photo: Emma on Unsplash