Getting into your uncomfort zone

I took my 2 year old into the pool for the first time this week. He's actually been in a pool before, but just on an inflatable mat where my husband and I pushed him around. This time, he was actually in the water. Dressed in his beach gear, wearing a little life vest, I coaxed him down the stairs while he was holding onto the bar, and when it was time to actually get into the water, he wrapped his arms and legs around my body with all his might, screaming every time I motioned him away from me. Finally, my saying, "Buddy, trust me. Mama won't let go" got through to him and he let me establish some space between us. After that, we had such a good time swirling around in the water, and he got to experience his first lesson in swimming.

I kept wondering what would our time have been like had he continued to cling to me? On one hand, he would have still left his comfort zone and gotten in, but on the other, he would have absolutely missed the point of being in a pool. This is like so many things that the Father leads me to, where I'm willing to leave my comfort zone, but if the experience makes me too uncomfortable, I'll wrap around the emotional equivalent of a child's blankey, something safe and familiar, and refuse to let go. I'll rationalize that I absolutely need this, and that without it, I will drown. In those moments, it's not so much about leaving my comfort zone, it's about getting into my uncomfort zone.

In John 9, Jesus comes across a man who was born blind. He spat in some dirt and wiped the mud on the man's eyes. He then told him to go and wash in the pool of Siloam. The man did, and he received his sight. I imagine this man, having heard about Jesus, thinking, "Ok, he's going to touch me and I'll be healed." Letting Jesus put mud on his eyes was definitely out of his comfort zone, as that doesn't seem like the way sight would be restored. But it was when Jesus told him to go wash, he was asked to get into his uncomfort zone, where he would need a friend to walk him through the city with mud over his eyes, probably fielding questions along the way. He could have decided that if Jesus wanted to heal him, he would have just done it and told Jesus thanks, but no thanks. He could have thought Jesus' method was foolish, and wiped the mud off his face and continued his life the way it had always been.

Simply going out of his comfort zone wasn't going to lead him to receiving his sight. He had to decide if Jesus was trustworthy enough to fully embrace the experience he was being asked to. Would he be made a spectacle of gullibility? Or would being made uncomfortable lead to the miraculous healing his heart always desired?

What is God calling you to, that you've dipped your toes in, but haven't dived into? What are you hanging onto that's preventing you from getting your breakthrough? I encourage you today to let some space be established between you and your safety net. Psalm 37 says, "The blameless spend their days under the LORD's care, and their inheritance will endure forever. In times of disaster, they will not wither, in times of famine, they will enjoy plenty" (vs 18 & 19.) It also says that the LORD makes firm the step of the one who delights in Him, and though they stumble, they will not fall, because He upholds them (vs 23 & 24.)

You can open your arms because He's holding onto you. He won't let go. 

Abba, thank you for calling me to greater things. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to partner in receiving all that You have for me. Help me to trust that because You're hanging onto me, I can fully pursue what You're calling me to. May the breakthroughs in my life bring You glory, and be a testimony to many of Your faithfulness. In Jesus' name.