Breaking Out of the Safe & Warm Space
Over the years, I knew what breaking out of the comfort zone was because I was married to a risk-taker kind-of-guy. Some risks paid off and some didn’t, but it was the two of us, so it made an “It Takes Two” mindset for stepping out and going for it. We were big thinkers and bet-the-farm risk takers. That was then; this is now. I’ve become much more guarded as a single – not venturing too far outside of my comfort zone in some ways, especially when it comes to protecting my #1 asset…ME!
Last year, at this time, I sat in the stands at my grandson’s baseball tournament with a coat on for Texas’ reasonably cool weather. I was mistaken. It was blasting cold and I regretted not being more prepared. That made me determined, this year, to buy a parka and found one that guarantees warmth down to -8 degrees temps. I tested it out on Friday, taking my grand-dog, Bentley, out for a walk. It didn’t disappoint.
Then, yesterday, I tested it out again in East Texas. Bentley (my responsibility while the fam are basking in the Bahamas at a wedding and enjoying Spring break) and I made our way to not-so-warm temps in Rusk, TX at Epiphany Ranch. One of the tiny homes there was awaiting our arrival. Cozy and warm inside. But, not so much for the culmination of a 3-day seminar in Dallas and some of the attendees following up at Epiphany Ranch for a dedication of the lake and super-charging it with God’s holiness as four people were baptized in water, giving their expression of dying to self and coming alive to the fullness of Christ in them. Holy Waters yet freezing water.
So, there you go….and there we go. I broke out of my safe space in Austin to the cold with my travel companion, Bentley. Once again, this widow, mom and nana has got game! I’m in it to win it – that is – this life…no excuses….no holds barred!
It’s like I’m still at the Disney parks with my family where I rode every ride – crazy fast, spinning, dropping, push and pull of gravity of the Rockin’ Roller Coaster, Tower of Terror, Space Mountain and Test Drive…..and even went in for repeats. Like I’ve said before “I’m not giving up until I’m taken up and once I’m up….arrived at my heavenly destination, I’m sure I’ll be yelling at the top of my lungs “Wow!! What a ride!!!”
Your concerns may not be about freezing cold temperatures or taking cross country trips as a single. But, in some ways, you may be doubting yourself as you step out of your safe space — maybe a job interview, speaking up at a meeting, asking that cutie for a date, or, like a friend who messaged me on Friday — not feeling qualified to accept a ministry leadership role. My reply to my friend was “God doesn’t usually call the qualified. He qualifies the called.” Just like He did with Moses, David, Peter, and Paul. Every time we step out in faith and resist fear, we grow a little stronger, experience more thrills and exhilarating times.
God is looking for believers who are so in love with Him—soul, heart and mind—that the risk doesn’t scare them—or if it scares them, they go ahead anyway! Regardless of what God is leading you to do, I can promise you, it will be bigger than you are, and it will be risky. It will require you to live by faith and not by sight. It will test you and frighten you, but that’s where the blessing is, where the abundant life is. Don’t miss it. If God is for you, who can be against you?