Your God Is Too Safe

So, through this whole prayer journey that this summer has taken me on, God has continued to impress one word on my heart...UNCOMFORTABLE.

I hate being uncomfortable...I don't really know too many people who enjoy it. I like knowing that I have a certain level of comfort in things. I like knowing that on a Sunday morning or Wednesday night, there are certain people that I'm comfortable sitting with and hanging out with. But more and more, God has been burdening me with those people who come in and out of these doors who aren't comfortable...who don't feel like they have a place here or have people to connect with. God's continued to ask me, "What about that girl who comes in on a Wednesday night not really knowing anyone, an outcast in a sense? What if everyone was like you...comfortable...and no one ever went up to say hello & sit with her?"

My response (excuse)..."God, there's a lot of people here. I'm sure someone will talk and sit with her. Besides, I'd probably just freak her out & then she'd never want to come back." Or..."God, I haven't seen these other girls all week. What about taking the time to talk to & invest in them?" I'll pretty much say anything I can to make an excuse to stay comfortable, because I hate discomfort!

So...in this whole journey, I've also been reading a lot more this summer. Mainly it's been books that have been tearing me apart. They've been challenging me & causing me to question why I do what I do & why I believe the way I believe. They've been challenging my view of who God is & what He has called each of us to do/be.

As I was reading through Irresistible Revolution by Shane Claiborne, he referenced a book by Martin Luther King, Jr. So...as I went to go get this book just to glance through it, I came across another book by Philip Yancey called Rumors of Another World that touches on the question of "What on earth are we hear for?" As I began glancing through the pages of this book, it referenced another author, Mark Buchanan. So...naturally (yeah right, I never do this) I went to the library to see what they had by Mark Buchanan, and the following book title jumped out at me from the shelf, Your God Is Too Safe, or as I like to refer to it as "Your God Is Too Comfortable."

In his book, Mark references a quote from a book & now movie that I'm sure most all of us are familiar with, C.S. Lewis's most famous Narnia chronicle, The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe. As Mr. & Mrs. Beaver are talking to the children about the King, Aslan, the conversation goes something like this:

"Is- is he a man?" asked Lucy.

"Aslan a man!" said Mr. Beaver sternly. "Certainly not. I tell you he is the King of the wood and the son of the great Emperor-Beyond-the-Sea. Don't you know who is the King of Beasts? Aslan is a lion- the Lion, the great Lion."

"Ooh," said Susan, "I thought he was a man. Is he- quite safe? I shall feel rather nervous about meeting a lion."

"That you will, dearie, and no mistake," said Mrs. Beaver; "If there's anyone who can appear before Aslan without their knees knocking, they're either braver than most or else just silly."

"Then he isn't safe?" said Lucy.

"Safe?" said Mr. Beaver; "don't you hear what Mrs. Beaver tells you? Who said anything about safe? 'Course he isn't safe. But he's good. He's the king, I tell you."


So...I sat there staring at that quote and decided to read through it again, but instead of reading "safe" I decided to insert the word "comfortable." Of course God isn't comfortable...who said anything about comfortable?! Look at all the crazy stuff that happened while He was here on earth. I'm not talking about just the turning water into wine, feeding the five thousand, walking on water, & raising people from the dead (umm...awkward)! What about his call to "Come, and follow me"? What about his words to the rich young ruler to sell all he had and give it to the poor & then come and follow Jesus? What about His words to the disciples, "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me"?

Anyone feeling comfortable with the idea of giving everything away, leaving everything behind (family, friends, the familiar), to go and follow after someone we can't physically see and find hard sometimes to even explain?

More and more I'm being challenged to rediscover who this God is that we serve. And with every uncomfortable step, I'm falling more and more in love with Him. God is a comfort, a refuge, our hiding place...the place our help comes from...but God is not comfortable...He's not safe, in fact, He's dangerous! He calls us to live on the edge, not vacation in the comfort of our religious community.

Too often my view of God is built out of my own comfort level...God becomes what I need when I need Him. It's a constant struggle for me to grab onto His words of "deny yourself"...in essence, "get uncomfortable and follow me." I'm not there yet...I haven't got this all figured out. I probably never will...I don't know that I'll ever be comfortable with being uncomfortable for God, but I'm willing to take this journey with Him. I'm willing to make an effort to get out of my comfort zone so that He can move.