Are You In Your Comfort Zone?

So here is an interesting concept to me, people that are worried about their comfort zone.  I was chatting with someone today who was worried that God would move them out of their comfort zone.  Meaning that God would literally put them into an uncomfortable situation that they did not want to be in.  I asked them why they thought that God would do this to them and they responded ‘because you cannot grow unless you are outside of your comfort zone“.

This is somewhat surprising to me since I grew up on a farm.  And I can assure you with no uncertainty at all that EVERY SINGLE TIME I ever put a seed into the ground (and I’ve put a lot of seeds into the ground) that the seed stayed right where it was planted, got comfortable, and GREW.

That is the way God designed plants to grow.  And I don’t know why we think we would be any different.  God PLANTED Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden.  He PUT them into their comfort zone.  THEY were the ones that became restless and tried to uproot themselves.  God PLANTED the Nation of Israel in a land flowing with milk and honey.  He PUT them into their comfort zone.  THEY were the ones that became restless and tried to uproot themselves.

It is God that desires the best for us.  It is we who are constantly trying to go the other way.  Are we to believe that God did not expect Adam and Eve to grow while in the Garden of Eden?  I don’t think so.  God fully expected them to grow in all aspects of life.  That is why God brought the animals before Adam to see what he would call them.  That is why God charged them with keeping (dressing) the Garden.  And that is why God told them to be fruitful and to multiply.  Are we to believe that God did not expect the Nation of Israel to grow after they had entered the promised land?  Once again, I don’t think so.  He gave them victory after victory and saw them through several generations of the wisest and greatest kings to ever walk the face of the Earth.  God desired for them to grow while PLANTED in the promised land.

And the last time I checked, we were the branches and He (Jesus Christ) is the vine.  We are the one’s grafted into Him (not the other way around).  And I know of no greater comfort zone than to be grafted into the vine that is Jesus Christ.  However God the Father is the husbandry (John 15:1-2).  He is the one who determines what needs to be pruned and what needs to be grafted and where.   He is also the farmer that chooses the fertile soil where the seeds will be planted.  And as God, he chooses wisely.  The branches and the seeds get no say in this.  They are under the care of the Great husbandry and he desires for his children to GROW.

Jesus said He was the branch and we are the vines (John 15:5) but we Christians today are not acting as vines.  We are too worried about which part of the branch we are on.  The branches at the top of the vine are worried about getting too much sunlight or the amount of time it takes for them to get nutrients.  The branches at the bottom of the vine are too worried about not getting enough sunlight and too much nutrients.  And all of us are worried about being pruned or grafted into another part of the vine that we may not be comfortable with.  And none of us are focused on the vine, which is where our focus should be.

As a farmer, my dad considered the soil where he would plant the seeds.  He knew the soil that needed fertilizer and the type and amount it would need.  He considered the soli that would need to be watered and the soil that had an abundance of water already beneath the ground.  And he carefully chose each seed and planted it where it would have the greatest chance of success.  He PLANTED each seed within its own comfort zone so that it would grow into the plant he desired and would produce good fruit.  However, my dad, as a farmer, also knew that some plants needed to be pruned as they grew.  And he chose which parts of the plant would be pruned in order to produce the greatest outcome from that plant.  And yes, there were times when a plant needed to be transplanted to new soil, with different conditions in order to grow into a healthy plant that would produce good fruit.

I believe that God the Father does the same with us.  He plants us in good soil, a comfort zone.  He grafts us into the good branch, another comfort zone.  And sometimes he prunes us, takes us out of our comfort zone.  And sometimes he transplants us, which takes us out of our comfort zone.  But we are the plants, and He is the planter.  He desires nothing more than to see that we produce good fruit for His Honor and for His Glory.  Not for ourselves, but for Him.  And we need to rest in the hands of the farmer.  We need to be willing plants and branches and to grow where He plants us, and where He prunes us, and even where He transplants us.  If the plant is more worried about where it is planted or where it is grafted into, it is not focusing on the vine and it is not going to become a healthy plant or branch.

I believe too many of us today are worried about our comfort zones when we should be resting in the vine that is Jesus Christ.  So how about yourself?  Are you in your comfort zone?  Then good!  Stay there and grow!  Are you being grafted into a part of the branch that takes you out of your comfort zone?  Then good!  Rest in the knowledge of the husbandry and grow!  Are you being transplanted outside of your comfort zone?  Good!  The Great I AM has nothing but his Great Plan in mind and desires nothing more than good fruit.  Our job is to rest (abide) in the branch and stay focused on Jesus Christ and to follow Him wherever he may plant us.