MEETING GOD OUTSIDE THE COMFORT ZONE

Spiritual growth can be stunted by living in a busy, worldly comfort zone.  In Pastor Lauren’s sermon this past Sunday, we were shown through Scripture how God had done great things through His servant Elijah.  But after all of the hullaballoo, Jezebel threatened to kill Elijah so he ran to the wilderness, hiding under a broom tree, wanting to die.  God had other plans and instructed Elijah to travel to Mount Horeb, known as the mount of God in Scripture.  God told Elijah to stand on the mountain “for the Lord is about to pass by.” (1 Kings 19)  “To pass by” is used in the Greek translation of the Old Testament to refer to a theophany – those defining moments when God made striking and temporary appearances in the earthly realm to select individuals or a group for the purpose of communicating a message.  It also happened when God put Moses in the cleft of a rock while God’s glory passed by ”The Lord passed before him”. 

There is a pattern to these types of events.  In each case, God had to get someone’s attention – through a burning bush, wind and fire, or a gentle whisper, as in the case of Elijah while he was hiding in a cave on Mount Horeb having a pity party.

These types of Biblical events beg the question, where will we most often meet God?  Most times, we encounter God outside of our comfort zone.  However, a Christ-follower looking for the grace that God puts in front of us everyday will have a different comfort zone (with fewer pity parties) than one that is in too big of a rush, too wrapped up in his/her own will or not in tune with Him communication-wise, with the latter likely missing the call and missing God as well.

In each Biblical case where God called and people said “yes”, they experienced the power of God in their lives.  It is the same for us today.  If we are working according to God’s calling, we will feel the exhilarating power of God in our lives, creating parties of joy rather than ones of pity.