Stepping out of your Comfort Zone

For some people, the superstition of Friday the 13^th being a day of bad luck and probable trouble, is a very serious matter. Believing that their day is doomed to be full of mishaps, fated tragedies and all around bad luck, creates a mindset that today is the day to call in sick. It might be best to stay home, hunker down with a good book or a stack of movies, except of course the one called, you guessed it, Friday the 13^th. 

The superstition is called Friggatriskaidekaphobia. Try to say that fast 10 times. But wait a second, if you do, you just might end up at the emergency room with an oral surgeon trying to untie your unlucky tongue. It might just be easier to say, I have Fear of Friday the 13^th. It has been called the most prevalent superstition that people experience. In fact, on Friday the 13^th, many people won’t eat out, will not fly, and avoid anything that may put them at risk of stepping out of their safe Comfort Zone.

In reality, many people all over the world are being pushed to the panicky edge of their own personal Comfort Zone. With the downsizing of many companies all over the world, most employees are having to wear 3 or 4 hats just to keep their jobs. The press of forced change that is imposed upon all of us today due to circumstances outside of our control, creates incredible anxiety, and threatens to take away our peace in the Quiet Place.

 

The Quiet Place is not a realm where we are free from life's trials, or do not experience trouble. It is only as our hearts and minds are at peace with God, that we can step out of our Comfort Zone because the Quiet Place is not a location or a protective force field...it is the ability to travel trough the storm of trouble, yet maintain peace and comfort within because God is within us. He is our Quiet Place.

The real risk of stepping outside of our Comfort Zone

The idea of taking a step outside of this place of perceived safety brings on the highest potential of failure,increases the risk of making a fool out of oneself, and thereby being potentially rejected by others. The fear of dropping the ball, and letting people down, and ultimately enhancing their LPR (Loser Potentiality Ratio), is terrifying.

For some people, the thought of taking a risk to attempt something outside of one’s Comfort Zone, without a stiff drink, smoking a bowl of green bud, or taking Ativan, Xanax, Valium, or any host of pharmaceuticals, legal and illegal, is impossible to consider. This is life for them, and it is real and scary.

The only true Hiding Place is found in God

A person cannot hide from life because they may fear hurt, failure or loss. Only God provides a Hiding Place so safe, that nothing can come to you that doesn't first pass through Him.The key is in being vulnerable enough to trust Him with the risk that life hurts, and suffering is real. It is a trusting assurance that should a storm come your way, He will be there strengthening you and comforting you through it all.

The Burdens of Life Can be Overwhelming

Life is filled with risks every day. It doesn't make a person a better or stronger leader because they take risks. It is the leader who knows which risks to take, and which to avoid, that exemplifies good leadership skills. I have made enough mistakes in my lifetime to know that.

God is the God of all Comfort (I Corinthians 1:3-50). When you find yourself flat on your face and you don't know which way to turn, try looking up. His comfort Zone flows out of His all sufficient grace, lavished upon us through His Son, Jesus Christ the Lord of Peace. He is the Prince of Peace because He paid the Price of Peace (II Corinthians 5:17-21).

When Life becomes a daily Friday the 13^th

Let’s face it, today most people are afraid of the loss of their ability to hold onto their personal financial security. 

Just like taking a table cloth and giving it a good snap to unfurl it, the ripple of significant economic destabilization of international markets, have had a large scale impact across the financial infrastructure of world economics that has affected every one of us.

Employment Downsizing and Work-life issues

The security of one’s job used to be something that gave a person a sense of personal security. Not many people today can say with certainty, ”My job is secure. They need me too much to lay me off much less fire me.” The term ‘Downsizing’ is now a common phrase from Seattle to Cape Town, from Rome to Athens, or from Manila to London.

Loss of Control and Facing the unknown 

Do we really have control over anything? Not really. Something can happen to anyone, at anytime, in anyplace and one might have no power to prevent it from happening. On the morning of March 11, 2011, the people living in the city of Kesennuma, Japan could do nothing as the horrific tragedy of an earthquake and tsunami devastated their city and hundreds of miles of surrounding communities. The world watched in horror as scenes of devastation spread across the internet and international media causing a firestorm of visual shock and grief. In reality we all face the unknown every day of our lives. 

We all need a Comfort Zone, but one that liberates us rather than imprisons us. Life begins at the end of your Comfort Zone, and that only can take place when God becomes the God of all Comfort to you.

“You are my Hiding Place; You preserve me from trouble; You surround me with songs of deliverance." Psalm 32:6

Only Jesus Christ Can be our true Comfort Zone

When your days are filled with worry and stress, remember that Jesus Christ has much bigger shoulders than you do, and they carried an old rugged cross all the way to the very heart of God.

The peace of God is found in Jesus Christ alone. 

"I am the way, the truth and the life; no man can come to the Father except by me." John 14:6 

The troubles of life will fill you with anxiety

“Do not let your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me."  John 14:1

 The peace of God cannot be counterfeited

“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” John 14:27

Life outside the Comfort Zone will always be tough

“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” John 16:33 

 

If today is a day where your anxiety and stress are high and your heart is heavy, take time to meet with God in the Quiet Place and lay the burden of life at His feet.