new.
Photo by Danny Solano
How comfortable are you with change? How comfortable are you with being uncomfortable?
The first thing I think of when I’m uncomfortable is pain. Pain comes in different modalities; it comes from different sources, and we embody it in different spaces. Sometimes it is it constant, sometimes it is brief, sometimes it lingers, and sometimes we forget about it until the weather gets cold again..
The special part of pain is how personal it becomes. No one can understand its occupancy within you. Only you are able to reconcile with its provoking.
Your fifteenth sprint, when the lactic acid is filling your muscles. Your broken friendship of fifteen years. The contractions overwhelming your body. Your final ‘I love you’ to a family member. The one hundredth blood test.
New strength. New friendships. New life. New hope. New healing.
In a world were we are so used to comfort. A generation accustomed to the luxury of ease. Let us be reminded of the special part of pain that brings new.. the part that brings strength.. the part that revives our souls.
We have been pulled from our comfort this year more than ever before. We have been removed from our work, our places of entertainment, our community, our safety.. we’ve been required to make monumental changes to our lives and it’s been.. uncomfortable.
“He takes away every branch in me that does not bear fruit, and every one that does he prunes so that it bears more fruit.” John 15:2
Jesus does not hurt us. Jesus is all good. He loves us just as we are, right here.. right now. He is filled with gracious mercy for our souls, and that is exactly why He harnesses our strength. His will for our lives is so much greater than we can fathom.. so much greater than we could muster up on our own vision board. He sees a future for you so grand and full of light, that He doesn’t want us to settle for just okay - just comfortable. Friends, we bear good fruits for our Lord. Everyday I find hope in the beautiful works of the people in this world. But, Our Lord wants us to be great. He wants to pull us from the comfort of our own ways, and strengthen us in what is life giving.
The stirring in your heart that is wrecking your comfort.. that is Jesus calling you to climb the mountain. The painful moments, the painful seasons.. this is your pruning. There is hope in this reckoning of pain. The light of new, abundant life. He sees you in your suffering. Show Him the places of your heart, of your life that are causing you pain. “For when the Lord saw her, he was moved with pity for her, and said to her, “Do not weep.”” (Luke 7:13) Pray for to God lay His hands on your brokenness.. ask for His pity, His tender care in your weakness.. so that He may rebuild you.. strengthen your foundation.. enrich your soil.. and give you the holiness of abundant fruits. He wants to be the source of your healing. He wants to be the source of your eternal joy.
“Remember not the events of the past, the things of long ago consider not; See, I am doing something new! Now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? In the wilderness I make a way, in the wasteland, rivers. Wild beasts honor me, jackals and ostriches, For I put water in the wilderness and rivers in the wasteland for my chosen people to drink. The people whom I formed for myself, that they might recount my praise.” Isaiah 43:18-21
How will we encounter the uncomfortable? God reminds us in Isaiah that He is not a God of the past.. He is the God of the present and the promise of forever. This year, let us “See, that God is doing something new!”… in our pain, let us “See, that God is doing something new!”… He makes a clear path in our wilderness, He springs forth rivers in the desert! For there is a greater hope. There is a hope found in the trust of Our Lord. Because no matter how dark the wilderness feels around you.. His light will show you which step to take next. He might not show you the destination, but trust in the path just ahead of you. Release the tension of control. Let your vision of the perfect future slip away. Be with the Lord in this desert and accept the rushing river of peace He provides.
“Behold I am making all things new.” Rev 21:5
x courtney.
