Spiritual Bed Sores

My most memorable milestones, my most sacred successes, my most blissful blessings…They have all come at the expense of my comfort. My flesh belongs to a creature that continually cries out for comfort and familiarity. When I get something good, my grip tightens. When I find myself in a satisfying place, my vision wants to remain within those boundaries. The idea of drifting from that desired position threatens evocation of angst.

Even so, to remain comfortable is impossible without changing positions. Why is that? Pressure. Consider our physical bodies. At rest, whether sitting or lying down, certain points are under pressure. We can remain still only a period of time before discomfort or pain persuades us to move. What happens to a body that, for whatever reason, refuses to move? The skin, the protection covering those pressured areas, becomes thinner and deteriorates. What comes next is an ulcer, or bedsore, then the possibility of infection.

I know what it is like to fight against change. I understand how stubborn refusal to move can lead from pain to paralytic numbness. I have felt the resulting weakening and wear of my spiritual resolve. I have been susceptible to spiritual bedsores.

But the sweet Holy Spirit is the most masterful teacher. He reminds me that my comfort is in Him and Him only, and He serenades my stubborn will into submission to His own good and perfect one. I have made the mistake of not changing when change was needed. I have suffered those consequences. I have also experienced the grandest of glories that come with stepping away from the familiar and embracing adventure.

Are you beginning to feel a bit uncomfortable? Do you feel the itch to move, but fear has made you immobile? Maybe pride is preventing your progress?

Let me encourage you to sacrifice your comfort for His call to something new! Be moved, and reap the benefits of remaining supple in His holy hands.

“See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?…”  -Isaiah 43:19