The Prompting of Discomfort

Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.  Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.  Joshua 1:8-9

No one likes to feel uncomfortable. There are words and phrases such as ‘Pro-Life,’ ‘Gay Marriage,’ ‘Black Lives Matter,’ or ‘Homeless’ that would immediately evoke feelings or emotions that would make many of us uncomfortable. These are parts of the social war that we as Christians encounter each and every day. However, many of us will choose to live with this discomfort by doing what God would not charge us to do; ignore it. The arguments would range from the reality of it being incredibly difficult to navigate to the very callous ‘it is not my problem’ approach. If you are navigating through these very difficult waters, the answer to this discomfort is quite simple. You need to start dealing with it.

God asks us to stand firm in our faith to deal with the many issues that come up in our lives.  In the beginning reign of Joshua as the leader of Israel, the Lord spoke directly to him as encouragement for the many trials he would soon face.  God knew of the discomfort that would come from his leading the Israelites across Jordan River to ‘The Promised Land.’  There would be many battles to be fought, and many a betrayals to be addressed.  But Joshua stayed faithful dealing with each challenge trusting in God.  As a result, Joshua was favored in all of those situations because he remembered to keep following God’s law and His commanding of him to ‘be strong and courageous.’  Many times, we feel discomfort in situations because they are messy or challenge us to deal with feeling and emotions we struggle with.  However if we direct our struggles and challenges of the situation to God and trust in His word, we will find clarity and direction.  In other words, are feelings of discomfort are signs that we need to reach out to God, and then trust in the direction He sets forth for us because His word is true and we ‘will be prosperous and successful’ should we follow His instruction.

God wants us to be active participants in the world but not of this world. The intro to Romans 12 says we are to offer ourselves as a sacrifice to God transformed to being born again to test and approve what God’s will is for us. Thus, our discomfort is an opportunity to understand God’s will for our lives. It may not feel good to start, but to embrace it brings us closer to God. Ultimately, isn’t that where we want to be? What issues of discomfort are you challenged with today? What is God prompting you to get involved in something you are not comfortable with? How can you respond prayerfully to them? My prayer is that we are responsive to God’s prompting through discomfort. Amen.