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Danger Zone

I still don't know what I want to be when I grow up, but I think I'm crippled by options. There are too many things that I could do or want to do, even when they're out of my comfort zone. But there I sit, day after day, in my comfort zone: a job that I know how to do but am not excited by.

So many things that I think I want to do with my life can be broken down into a pros/cons set like the following:

I could be a counselor.
Pros: I like helping people. I like to see people grab on to a purpose. I have been told I give practical advice.
Cons: My favorite phrase is "deal with it".

A lot of other job fields can be broken down like that. They sounds interesting, and some parts of them I'd be good at, but others I'm not so sure about. So I give up on one idea, and move on to the next. And the next. And the next. And still I sit in my comfort zone: a job I know how to do, but am not challenged by.

At some point, it has to stop. If I spend all my time mentally and emotionally hopping from one career idea to the next, soon I'll be 55 and still sitting in my comfort zone: a job that I can do in my sleep but don't care about.

The comfort zone says we are strong and can take care of ourselves. The comfort zone is where we wonder what God would do without us. The comfort zone is where we don't question the worth or value of what we're doing, because we are comfortably confident that it's God's plan.

The danger zone, I have decided, is often cleverly disguised as the comfort zone.

The danger zone is where we become self-sufficient and self-reliant. The danger zone is where we think God needs us to accomplish his purpose. The danger zone is where we lose our hot and cold and become lukewarm, apathetic.

No where in the Bible does it say that Christ followers deserve comfort. Jesus says we have to take up our cross and follow him. That we have to forsake parents, siblings for him. Translation: instead of always having plenty to eat, a nice house and new car, we will have physical and emotional pain and have to put him above our families if we choose to follow him.

In the 2 Samuel, David is wanting to offer a sacrifice to the Lord. David asks to buy a threshing floor in order to offer the sacrifice on it, but the man tries to give it to him. David refuses, saying, “No, I insist on paying you for it. I will not sacrifice to the Lord my God burnt offerings that cost me nothing.” 

If we are to be living sacrifices, but give only what costs us nothing, what good is it? The comfort zone is a dangerous place to be.

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