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God is
calling you and has a job for you to do. You approach Him, listen
with your heart to what it is He has for you to do, only to be left
to wonder if you understood correctly. What He is asking is in
complete conflict with what you believe you should be doing or are
capable of doing. You begin to question what His calling is for you
and drag your feet. You want to move forward and trust that He knows
what is best for you, but can't seem to get motivated to step out of
your comfort zone. Why can't you take the plunge and move forward?
- You are afraid of failure or success – Many times fear can stop a person dead in our tracks from pursuing what God has for them to do. It can make them question if they have understood him correctly and doubt their ability to carry out his plan for them. Sometimes you face fear with the idea that if you succeed you may need to make more permanent changes to your life that fall outside of your comfort zone and could possibly alter your life significantly from what you have grown accustomed to.
- God's calling seems too overwhelming to you – You look at what he is asking you to accomplish and you become overwhelmed. You don't know where to start and all the steps you need to take complete the task successfully. The enormity of the call feels like it is well above what you can handle.
- You don't like what you are being asked to do – Although God does not force anyone to do anything and he gives a person free will to make their own decisions, he does try to steer each person down a path he has chosen for them. It is natural to not want to do what you are asked to do, especially if it something that contradicts what you had chosen for yourself.
- You don't understand the purpose behind your calling and you lack motivation and focus – You may not feel inspired or excited about what God has for you initially. It becomes very difficult to become motivated to work towards your calling when you can't understand the reason or purpose behind what you are doing. It is difficult to blindly accept something without having the foresight as to why you are doing what you are doing.
- You don't want to attempt fulfill God's calling unless you know you can do it perfectly – For those of you who are perfectionists and are control freaks it is very difficult to attempt what God is asking you to do if you feel you may not be able to complete it to His standards. You are driven for the end result and not focusing on the journey to accomplish what God has for you.
How can
me move past these thoughts and move forward with God's calling for
us? By realizing that in life you do not truly have control over
anything other than your emotions and your own actions. God does not
expect you to be perfect, as it is in your imperfection you feel the
need to draw closer to Him. He wants you to trust that, although you
may not understand why He wants you to do something, that He has your
best interest at heart and would never ask you to do something that
He did not think you were fully capable of doing or that would hurt
you. You do not need to have fear or to feel inadequate or incapable,
for through Him all things are possible (Matthew 19:26) and He will
be with you in all that He asks you to do.
It is very difficult to step out of your comfort zone. We have been challenged in our church to step out and bring the church closer together. I have a hearing problem and it's a difficult thing to bring myself to go and talk to people who might be hard to understand, and they are probably the people who need someone the most to approach them and be friendly. Or the elderly who can't get up and move around during greeting time. This is when we need to have great faith that God will supply the words needed and enable the understanding. We all probably know this but fear does tend to hold you back. Each time you do step forward and feel God's presence and help enables you to make that next step. Even commenting here is stepping out of my comfort zone.
ReplyDeleteMaddienme I see this as well within my own church. We struggle to embrace new ways of approaching and doing things, because we have become used to doing the same thing until that seems like that is all we know. Stepping out of our comfort zone is not easy, however if we approach it in small steps and with God's help, it becomes easier each time. Many times those things we view as challenges are actually opportunities for blessings which can be given or received. Thank you very much for sharing! I pray that God blesses you and your church and provides you both with courage and a strong spirit to step outside of the restraints of your comfort zone to find the amazing blessings that are just outside its barriers!
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