We all have it, some of us more than others, some better at dealing with it, and yet others able to hide it pretty well.\u00a0 “It” is our comfort zone.\u00a0 It is the place where we feel the most confident and the most secure.\u00a0 The problems come when we venture outside of our comfort zone.\u00a0 Those of you who frequently read the blog or have attended one of our services at Westlake know my comfort zone extends from breaking down biblical passages, getting the privilege of teaching the Bible, sharing with others about how awesome of a God we serve, and sports.\u00a0 Anything outside of those things and I’m not real comfortable.\u00a0 So when the battery on our car died, I was going to have to leave my comfort zone in order to get it running again.\u00a0 Now at the risk of losing some cool points as a man, I must admit I am not a mechanic.\u00a0 I can do basic maintenance such as change the oil, rotate the tires, change most air filters, and that is about it.\u00a0 Since fortunately you don’t have to put new batteries in often, I haven’t had to do it in a long time.\u00a0 Unlike changing the batteries out on the Nintendo Wii because our boys have gone through another set, changing a car battery was going to take time and work.<\/p>\n
This got me thinking about our comfort zone as a Christian.\u00a0 There are areas in which most of us, if not all of us, are uncomfortable in the Christian life.\u00a0 For some it is praying in public, others it may be reading in public, some struggle with knowing how to pray or study their Bible at all.\u00a0 Probably the biggest area of the Christian life that is out of most people’s comfort zones is evangelizing, sharing the Gospel with people.\u00a0 There are a lot of fears that get in our way when it comes to sharing the Good News.\u00a0 There is a story in Scripture that has always fascinated me.\u00a0 In fact it the first sermon I ever preached was on this text.\u00a0 It is found in Matthew 14:22-33.\u00a0 This passage records Jesus and Peter walking on the water.\u00a0 I’ll do my best to summarize the story.\u00a0 Jesus had just finished feeding 5,000 men (probably a crowd of 10-20,000 total), He sends everyone away, and He goes up into the mountain to pray.\u00a0 As night falls the disciples get into the boat and begin rowing to the other shore.\u00a0 Remember several of the disciples were experienced fishermen and so when a storm came up, they should have been able to navigate it without too many problems.\u00a0 However, the Bible records the fact that they struggled and were only about half way across the sea when all of the sudden they see a figure walking on the water towards them.\u00a0 The disciples cried out in fear (duh) at seeing this, but then the familiar voice of Jesus says “Be of good cheer; it is I; do not be afraid” (v. 27).\u00a0 Peter calls out to Jesus and though in English it looks at though Peter is questioning if it is really Jesus, the Greek tense shows us that Peter is confident that it is Jesus, and Peter asks to come out of the boat and go to Jesus.\u00a0 For the many times Peter messed up, this time he got it right.\u00a0 You see Peter did something that the other disciples wouldn’t do, he stepped out of his comfort zone.\u00a0 The boat was safe for them, but to get out of it would have been seen as crazy.\u00a0 First, you have a storm that is able to whip experienced fishermen.\u00a0 Secondly, people don’t exactly walk on water every day.\u00a0 However, Peter trusted Jesus and he wanted to get to Him so desperately that Peter stepped out of his comfort zone.\u00a0 None of the other disciples that.\u00a0 Yes it is true that the story also records how Peter started paying attention to the waves instead of Jesus and began to sink (vv. 29-30), but at least Peter had enough faith and courage to step out in the first place.\u00a0 When Peter began to fail, he knew where to turn and Jesus was right there to rescue him (v. 31).<\/p>\n
I can hear myself and probably a lot of you saying, “But stepping out of our comfort zone is scary and it is difficult.”\u00a0 I agree, but the question is do we have the faith in Jesus that we say we do?\u00a0 If we really believe that Jesus is who He says He is and that He can do what He says He can do, then what’s the problem?\u00a0 The problem truthfully is we value safety over growth.\u00a0 Society is breeding generation after generation of people who play it safe, who are afraid to take risks.\u00a0 It seems like everyday there is a new report coming out about something that we have done practically all of our life, and now we are told to stop it because it will kill us.\u00a0 I don’t mean to be a gloomy gus but statistics shows that 10 out of 10 people die.\u00a0 And if we are doing what God has told us to do, is it really a risk to step out of our comfort zone?\u00a0 Stepping out of our comfort zone is not a question of our ability, it is really a question of our faith and our desire.\u00a0 Yes, you and I are going to fail from time to time when we step out of our comfort zone for Christ, but at least we will be striving to become the man or woman God has created us and desires us to be.\u00a0 When we fail we will be in good company just consider people such as Abraham, Moses, Peter, Paul, John, and others.\u00a0 Always remember this, God has promised to never leave you or forsake you (Josh. 1:5; Heb. 13:5).\u00a0 If you want to grow as a Christian, you need to step out of your comfort zone and start walking towards Christ.\u00a0 By the way, for those of you who care, I did get the car battery changed with no problems.\u00a0 I may not be a mechanic, but I learned how to do something new to a car.\u00a0 I may not and you may not be the Christian we should be, but God isn’t done with us yet (Phil. 1:6).\u00a0 Now, let’s get out of our boats and start walking towards Jesus, you’ll be glad you did!<\/p>\n
By His grace and through His strength may we live for Him<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
We all have it, some of us more than others, some better at dealing with it, and yet others able to hide it pretty well.\u00a0 “It” is our comfort zone.\u00a0 It is the place where we feel the most confident … Read More