Life Begins At The End Of Your Comfort Zone

A little boy was running along a beach with fists full of broken shells. As he reached down for another shell, something in the water catches his eye. He turned his head and saw a beautiful and elaborate starfish laying in the sand about 30 feet away. He got excited and started running towards it, only to make it about 5 feet before turning back and running 10 feet in the opposite direction. He turned back and ran at the starfish again, making it about 15 feet this time. 10 feet further than he was when he originally started, but yet again he turned back and ran to his parents once more. He began to look frustrated and unsure, his parents cheered him on, “Go! Go get your starfish!” He looked determined; he faced that starfish, and ran at it, his mind claiming it. He got only a few feet from it this time. He hesitated. His parents yelled across the sand, “Pick it up!” but instead of picking it up he threw himself into the sand and screamed “But my hands are full of shells!”

For him to be able to pick up this beautiful starfish, he would have to drop his broken shells. To pick up the great, he would have to let go of the good.

I’m a lot like this little boy. The good in my life, I value so much that I can’t seem to let go of it, even if it means getting something great. Getting something beautiful, something priceless, in return. Even though I see this great powerful God, I grasp ever so tightly onto the things in my life that come between me and him. I hold onto the things that are so valuable to me, even If they’re only holding me back from having a stronger relationship with Christ.

To get the great we have to trust that it will outweigh the good.

We have to trust God, trust that he knows best, and trust that he will provide. Only once we learn to trust and give over everything to God, will we be able to grow in our relationship with him on the next level.

But you see, trust is something I have trouble with. Ill confess here and now that trust issues are webbed into the fibers of my entire being. Ill confess here and now that I don’t trust God. It’s not something I’m proud of, but I’d rather be honest about it then to pretend to be something I’m not. Over the years I’ve worked on giving it all to God, and plenty of times I have. I’ve given everything to God plenty of times, but I always seem to pull it all back. It’s like I tie a string to it, and as soon as I start feeling uncomfortable I pull all my troubles back. I’m comfortable with having my own problems. It’s almost become like… a hobby. Working through my problems, and working through other people’s problems for them, whether they want me to or not. And I think that’s part of what makes letting go of my problems so hard… problems are like a security blanket to me. Now I want to make clear that I’m not using this as an excuse, because it would be pathetic to even attempt that. 

What I’m trying to say is that It’s something I’m not comfortable with… But where would we be today if we only did what we were comfortable with? And I know that’s kind of cliché, but really think about it for a minute.

God calls us to work for him. He calls us to do what’s hard.. It doesn’t matter if it’s something we’re comfortable with or not. Life begins at the end of your comfort zone. Was Christ comfortable dying on the cross for our sins? No, he wasn’t. But he did it because he loves us.

HE
LOVES
US.

If we love him, truly and fully love him… in the end we’d do anything for him. We might stumble along the way, or question him, and originally tell God no.. in the end if we truly love him and call him Lord, then our life’s are his.

Someday I pray to give up my broken shells completely, and pick up that starfish. Someday I pray that ill be able to fully give up my mess of what I call life, and pick up instead a unshakable relationship with the man who sent his son to die for me.

I pray for the faith to take the first step without seeing the whole staircase.