When I was little, I used to get growing pains in my legs so bad at night that I would run to my parents’ bedroom to wake them up, crying, asking them to take the pain away. They couldn’t. But they invariably picked me up, prayed for me, and let me sleep with them. And the comfort of knowing they were there was enough to make the throbbing pain bearable enough to fall asleep again. The pain didn’t disappear, my legs didn’t hurt any less, but just being with my parents reassured me that everything was going to be ok, and that the pain was, in fact, a good thing. I would be taller in the morning!
This is such a beautiful picture of what life is like following Jesus.Jesus never promised his disciples life would be easy. Actually, he required just the opposite. When speaking to a crowd in Luke 9, he said, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must turn from you selfish ways, take up your cross daily, and follow me.” This is uncomfortable- highly uncomfortable. The only reason taking up a torture instrument daily would be required of anyone must be because there is a reward far more glorious than the inglorious cost. The reward of life with Jesus requires discomfort.
But here’s the problem: comfort is a deeply embedded desire for most Americans. In part, it’s instinct. We don’t like pain. We strive to gain an education so we can get a job that will comfortably provide for us and our families. We work long hours to make money so we can comfortably retire. We seek activities and opportunities that fall in our proverbial “comfort zone” and try to avoid those that do not. The problem, the danger, in pursuing comfort is this: growth has never been comfortable.
So what if God is nudging you to do something uncomfortable? Faith is often spelled R-I-S-K. It’s scary to follow a God we cannot see. It’s scary to pray for the sick believing they will be healed. It’s scary to think about asking for less time in work to spend more time loving the broken. It’s scary to even have a conversation with a homeless man beyond negotiating what you might give him. We shouldn’t be surprised if Jesus asks us to do these things. After all, Jesus was homeless. He was born in a feeding trough. He died the most brutal death imaginable on a cross. And he’s who we are striving to be like.
Does this make you uncomfortable? Wrestle with the ideas God may be giving you about doing something uncomfortable. Maybe he is calling you to live in a smaller home and use the extra money to spend more on behalf of others. Maybe it’s to change jobs. Maybe it’s to pray for that person you see in a wheelchair in the middle of a mall. Maybe it’s to share the love of God with someone who has never heard the good news – your next door neighbor perhaps. Wrestle with the idea that God wants you to grow in faith, trust, hope, and love, and like a parent comforting a growing, pained child, he’ll comfort you through the uncomfortable moments in following Him. He’ll show you the reward.
For when you lose your life for my sake, you’ll gain it. –Jesus (Matthew 10:39)
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