Challenging My Demand For Comfort
I like to be comfortable.
I really like it.
I like fast food because I don't have to wait very long.
I like drive-through banking because I don't have to get out of my car.
I like microwaves because they heat things in less than 2 minutes.
I like having my film developed in under an hour, I like a drive-through car wash so I don't have to get wet.
And the other day I found the coolest thing.
It is a can that has coffee in it and you tip it upside down and pull a ring and shake it and in a few minutes it heats the coffee up and I can have hot coffee anywhere, anytime I like it.
I like good quality things that don't cost me much; I want my order filled quickly; I want my shoes to fit the first time I try them on.
I don't want to shop anymore; I want one store that has everything I need, right there at my disposal.
I like the world doing and being exactly the way I want it to be.
And I try to sculpt my everyday world that way.
I take the shortest drive home and find the fastest car and the nicest heated seats and the climate controlled environment for me to be as comfortable as I can be as much as possible.
Why? Because I am God.
No, not 'a god,' small 'g', but the real God, master of the universe.
I am that important, and so I deserve being as comfortable as possible all the time.
How dare I have to wait for a green light or stop at a stop sign when there is no one around? How dare a policeman give me a ticket on the freeway when everybody else is going way over the speed limit too? How dare the world not function exactly as I think it should? I am God! I am as appalled as you at the attitudes that rise up inside of me.
I am writing them out to make myself be really honest about them, because I find I like comfort so much I will lie to myself about what is real so that I can feel more comfortable about the ways I live.
That is how deeply seated my subtle demands for comfort are.
And here I come along as a life coach and encourage people to sit with discomfort.
I challenge them to challenge the status quo of their daily existence by confronting their own, often unconscious, demands to be comfortable all the time.
How dare I! Isn't life about getting bigger things and better things and more things and nicer things? Isn't life about moving up the ladder of success, being better off next year than I was last year? Sometimes more is less.
Sometimes downsizing is really the best way to get more.
Sometimes learning to take some ground back from our own subtle demands for comfort is really about letting go so we can get.
Often as a coach I encourage my clients to sit with their discomfort.
So much of our lives are lived under the unconscious insistence that we be comfortable.
And our demand for comfort becomes our tyrant.
We find ourselves out of the control of our lives.
We aren't being wise stewards of anything, let alone all that God has given us.
We are simply getting fatter and fatter in our own comfort.
Is it any wonder we can't hear the call of God? Is it really a surprise we don't sense, on any level, the spirit of God? We are too busy getting rid of pain to feel any gentle nudging of the Holy Spirit.
No taking off of the shoes by a bush that doesn't burn; no waiting a whole night to see if a fleece is wet or dry.
No seeking the Lord for an answer that doesn't come quickly and easily.
And definitely no wrestling with a God who doesn't hand out answers readily.
He might make me feel uncomfortable, so why would I listen to him.
But then again, I am God, so I don't have to.
I am not proud of this vein inside of me that says comfort is the highest priority rather than the development of a deep hunger for being transformed into the image of Christ.
But I choose to be honest with myself and you about it.
Why? Because it makes me really uncomfortable, and when I am uncomfortable enough, I will change.
Now what will you do with your own level of comfort? Will you continue to numb out to the ways you 'must' be comfortable, or will you embrace some discomfort, and let God be God?
I really like it.
I like fast food because I don't have to wait very long.
I like drive-through banking because I don't have to get out of my car.
I like microwaves because they heat things in less than 2 minutes.
I like having my film developed in under an hour, I like a drive-through car wash so I don't have to get wet.
And the other day I found the coolest thing.
It is a can that has coffee in it and you tip it upside down and pull a ring and shake it and in a few minutes it heats the coffee up and I can have hot coffee anywhere, anytime I like it.
I like good quality things that don't cost me much; I want my order filled quickly; I want my shoes to fit the first time I try them on.
I don't want to shop anymore; I want one store that has everything I need, right there at my disposal.
I like the world doing and being exactly the way I want it to be.
And I try to sculpt my everyday world that way.
I take the shortest drive home and find the fastest car and the nicest heated seats and the climate controlled environment for me to be as comfortable as I can be as much as possible.
Why? Because I am God.
No, not 'a god,' small 'g', but the real God, master of the universe.
I am that important, and so I deserve being as comfortable as possible all the time.
How dare I have to wait for a green light or stop at a stop sign when there is no one around? How dare a policeman give me a ticket on the freeway when everybody else is going way over the speed limit too? How dare the world not function exactly as I think it should? I am God! I am as appalled as you at the attitudes that rise up inside of me.
I am writing them out to make myself be really honest about them, because I find I like comfort so much I will lie to myself about what is real so that I can feel more comfortable about the ways I live.
That is how deeply seated my subtle demands for comfort are.
And here I come along as a life coach and encourage people to sit with discomfort.
I challenge them to challenge the status quo of their daily existence by confronting their own, often unconscious, demands to be comfortable all the time.
How dare I! Isn't life about getting bigger things and better things and more things and nicer things? Isn't life about moving up the ladder of success, being better off next year than I was last year? Sometimes more is less.
Sometimes downsizing is really the best way to get more.
Sometimes learning to take some ground back from our own subtle demands for comfort is really about letting go so we can get.
Often as a coach I encourage my clients to sit with their discomfort.
So much of our lives are lived under the unconscious insistence that we be comfortable.
And our demand for comfort becomes our tyrant.
We find ourselves out of the control of our lives.
We aren't being wise stewards of anything, let alone all that God has given us.
We are simply getting fatter and fatter in our own comfort.
Is it any wonder we can't hear the call of God? Is it really a surprise we don't sense, on any level, the spirit of God? We are too busy getting rid of pain to feel any gentle nudging of the Holy Spirit.
No taking off of the shoes by a bush that doesn't burn; no waiting a whole night to see if a fleece is wet or dry.
No seeking the Lord for an answer that doesn't come quickly and easily.
And definitely no wrestling with a God who doesn't hand out answers readily.
He might make me feel uncomfortable, so why would I listen to him.
But then again, I am God, so I don't have to.
I am not proud of this vein inside of me that says comfort is the highest priority rather than the development of a deep hunger for being transformed into the image of Christ.
But I choose to be honest with myself and you about it.
Why? Because it makes me really uncomfortable, and when I am uncomfortable enough, I will change.
Now what will you do with your own level of comfort? Will you continue to numb out to the ways you 'must' be comfortable, or will you embrace some discomfort, and let God be God?
