Becoming Uncomfortable

When I was a sophomore in high school, I experienced one of the most uncomfortable and influential moments in my walk with God. It was a Wednesday night, typical of the youth group I was super involved in, and we were closing out the night with a worship set. My favorite college leader at the time came up to me and told me that God told her that I needed to pray over her. But not just a simple prayer; she told me to listen to what God was saying and speak that over her. I had no idea how to do this and was immediately overwhelmed. I was overwhelmed with the thought of saying the wrong thing over her, not hearing the voice of God and failing at what seemed to be a simple task. But she looked at me and told me that it might take time, and that’s okay. She was prepared to stand there with me until I heard God’s voice. And that’s exactly what she did. Twenty minutes passed by, and I finally started to speak without conscious notice that I was speaking. God was speaking through me. It was not by my ability that I spoke those sweet words over her; it was wholly reliant on God showing up. And he did show up, just like he always does.

I want to challenge you to be uncomfortable in your faith. I heard the saying once that “if you’re not uncomfortable in your faith, you’re not growing.” My friends, we should never stop growing in our love and relationship with God. Uncomfortableness is rarely a state anyone naturally gravitates to; it feels unsafe and uncertain. But because it is that way, God takes those moments and shapes us through them. In our uncertainty, we are forced to wholeheartedly rely on God and his direction, and that is a beautiful place to be. Jesus constantly challenges his followers to step out of their comfort zones; to drop everything and follow him. To know him better, we must reach a place in which we are willing to go into the unknown, be uncomfortable and be fully reliant on Him.

I worked as a photographer at a whitewater rafting center for the past two summers. Before that first summer, I had never gone rafting before, and quite frankly was very nervous about going. Orientation day for employees was three days after I had foot surgery, and part of orientation was a rafting trip down the Nantahala. So, I taped up a plastic trash bag over my healing foot and got on the raft with seven other river guides. Every single one of them knew how to guide a raft, except me. I felt very unprepared and inadequate to be on this raft with them, but I heard God’s sweet whisper to me to “keep going.” I made great friends with those guides. We bonded over that first rafting trip, and through that, God opened a lot of doors for me. I tell you this story to help you understand that being uncomfortable isn’t just a spiritual experience inside of a church; it’s in everyday life. Without working there, I would be a very different person today. But because I was willing to be uncomfortable, I was willing to let uncomfortable experiences grow and mold me into a better person. God is constantly speaking to us and challenging us. I challenge you to listen to the words he is speaking and obey his voice. Become uncomfortable and see how far you go.