One of my memories from two years ago was this photo. In this photo, I look pretty comfortable. I am;...But, it didn't start out that way.
You see, our family was on vacation. It would be my first time camping in a camper. Team McPhearson, ventured to a small town in Wisconsin with a total population of 1,330. You read that correctly, a population of one thousand three hundred and thirty people. I had more people than that in my graduating high school class, I think.
I grew up in a city with a population of over 5.8 million people. A city where 1 in 4 residents were black. Yet, here I was in a town with a black population of 0.75%. Talk about uncomfortable!
So, how is this time one of my fondest memories? I embraced the uncomfortable! I didn't cling to my ideas and comfort zone. I stepped out of the boat, so to speak.
Sure I was in a small town. Sure I was camping in a camper. (My idea of camping, since leaving the Army, is a log cabin on a beach.) Sure I was in Smallville, USA. But, I was with my family.
I love my family and wanted us to have a good time together. I love my wife and this is the town is where her mother lives. I understood that it wasn't just about me. I made the sacrifice for our family. It was a risk! It was uncomfortable! It was worth it!
So if you wanna live a comfortable life
Make sure you never love nobody, be selfish, and never sacrifice.
-Andy Mineo- "Uncomfortable"
We are in a season where we are extremely uncomfortable with all that is going on in the world around us. I want to offer you a view from a Christian lens. As a Christian, why are we so uncomfortable? Surely, God wants us to be comfortable! Doesn't He?
I do not believe that He does. As I think about all the times God has purposely placed me in uncomfortable situations, I realize that He had a purpose, each time. For His Glory! It was never about me! I am a follower of Christ. From the moment that I decided to follow Christ I have been uncomfortable! It is when I chase comfort that I am furthest from Him.
Did you know that an ancient Jewish blessing supposedly goes, “May you be covered in the dust of your rabbi.” The idea is that a rabbi’s disciples—those who took on his yoke, his set of interpretations of scripture—were to follow so closely behind him when they walked that they would become caked in the dust he kicked up with his feet. The blessing had a literal meaning but was primarily metaphoric, and the common Christian saying “following in the footsteps of Jesus” conveys the same idea.
In Jesus’ time, following a rabbi meant living with the rabbi, sharing meals with him, praying with him, studying with him and taking part in the rabbi’s daily life. A rabbi’s life was meant to be a living example of someone shaped by God’s Word. That should be the desire of every disciple of Christ, to walk so close to him that we would be covered with his dust.
Talk about living uncomfortable!
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