Completely

A couple days ago I wrote about driving through the desert in the comfort of our vehicle and that I noticed just how vast the desert surrounding us actually was.

As I thought about Isaiah 43:19 that day, I realized that the “new thing” God is doing is not happening in the place where I am comfortable.

For I am about to do something new. See, I have already begun! Do you not see it? I will make a pathway through the wilderness. I will create rivers in the dry wasteland.

So what does that mean? I mean, I understand the words. I get that I need to get out of my comfort zone and get into the wilderness where He is calling me. But what does that mean?

There are a number of scenarios where I am comfortable. There are orders of magnitude more where I am not. Do I need to do everything that seems uncomfortable, or is there more to it? Karaoke sounds like one of the most miserable experiences I can imagine. Do I really have to belt out Bon Jovi’s “Shot Through the Heart”? Please, no. For both our sakes.

The more I think about it, it doesn’t really matter how comfortable, or uncomfortable, I am. What matters is that I am taking the steps He wants me to take. I can find my comfort in Him when my circumstances are not comfortable. I can be comforted even when I am uncomfortable.

A couple years ago, I wrote about running after God, and how I was discovering what that meant to me.

It’s not that I’m over here and He’s over there and I need to get over there to Him. It’s not that He’s running away from me and I need to try to catch Him. We’re not playing tag, and we’re absolutely not playing hide and seek.

I’m running after God when I take His hand and allow Him to pull me through the wilderness, over rocks and hills, turning sharply, ducking branches, splashing through rivers, crashing through brush, getting bumps, cuts and bruises, all at a speed that feels reckless and out of control.

Running after God has nothing to do with what I do to pull myself closer to Him. Running after God has everything to do with trusting that He has my hand, that He knows every inch of the wilderness, and he knows that the view on the other side of the wilderness is so much more spectacular than what I wanted to see at the end of the trail.

When I wrote that in 2017, we were just a couple weeks from launching our own business, and I wasn’t really sure what I was doing. I felt a little lost and a lot scared. I believe that He put those words on my heart as an encouragement for “2017 Scott”. But I believe that “2017 Scott” wrote those words down specifically for “2020 Scott” to read today. God already knows the complete story. He knows the end from the beginning. He knows what things will benefit me. He knows the things that will allow me to benefit someone else. He knows it all.

Do I trust Him with my comfort?

Completely. ¹

This post is part of the Januwordy 2020 challenge.  Today’s prompt is “complete”.