In the Comfort Zone

"For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways." Isaiah 55:8 NASB

Comfort Zones - We all have them, and we sure like them. We hard to avoid things that are outside our comfort zone. the problem with being in the comfort zone is that often there is no growth within our comfort zone. We get settled in and just want to stay snuggled up there. As humans, most of us are resistant to change. We want everything to stay just the same so that we can stay snuggled up there.

God gives us a bit of notice in Philippians, chapter 1, verse 6, Paul writes: "For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus." NASB. I can't think of anything that has even been perfected without involving work and change. Rats! Let's think about this for a moment. what does God's perfection look like? Certainly not like our human attempts at perfection. God's process of perfecting involves a refining process.

I recently spent some time researching the meaning of the refining process. I found that there different methods of refining, based on the original element, and the desired result. Some of the methods of refining include heat, melting, and pruning. When I think about those words, something immediately comes to mind. Did you guess it? It probably popped into your mind also. Pain - Yes, pain. The refining process is not comfortable. that's why we want to stay in our "comfort zones", to avoid the refining God wants and needs to do in our lives.

In my last blog post, I talked about the beginning of our story with Katie. Those days and years were filled so much joy. Yes, there were a few difficult times, but overall, those early years were amazing. I consider the early years with the kids some of the best times of our lives. There were the normal ups and downs that life brings, but overall, we felt happy and blessed. We were in our comfort zone. We managed to stay happily complacent with our lives. Work, church, activities, and my favorite activity, cheerleading. During Katie's last year of middle school, we took Katie with her Special Olympics Cheer to Battle at the Capitol in Washington DC. It was fabulous. It was our first time in the capital, and we were able to go to the National Zoo and see the Pandas. On the way back home, we stopped at Jamestown Settlement and had a great time going back in history with the kids. Just over a year later, we were completely thrown out of our cozy comfort zone. We were about to start a desperate new rescue mission. Follow along with us for the next blog to read about how the refining process was about to begin.