Friday, April 25, 2014

Control, Change, and Comfort Zones


Control, change, and comfort zones are all things I struggle with. Lately I’ve been learning that the three things I struggle the most with are interconnected.

Control
I have learned over the past few weeks that I am a bit of a control freak! It may not seem like it, but I like to be in charge and tell others what to do and make sure they do it right. I realized this during a group project in one of my classes. We split up the work and I did my part, but I worried if my group mates were doing their work to the standard that I hold myself to. In the end, I read over our whole paper and made corrections so it all made sense. I had the final say. Well, there is one thing that I am not in control of: my life. God is in control of my life. I don’t have much of a say in what happens in my life. When I try to take control of my life, I find myself drifting from God. When we try to control our life its like pushing God out of the way and saying, “I can do this on my own!” In the end, we can’t do this on our own! We need God to be in control!

Change
A few posts ago I said I don’t like change and it seems I have been going through a lot of it lately.  I enjoy living in my safe little world where everything stays the same. Unfortunately, that isn’t reality. Change is a natural part of life and there is no way of avoiding it. Like I said, I have been going through a lot of change lately and I’ll admit it, I have not been handling it well. I’ve pretty much failed on this one, but that’s okay because God is a God of second chances, and third chances, and fourth chances... Its time to rely on God to help me through these changes!

Comfort Zones
Much like with change, getting out of my comfort zone isn’t fun for me. I like living in my happy world, but again, that’s not reality. I think the best way to describe comfort zones is how one of my favorite Pastor’s did. He said that you are like a rubber band. When you stay in your comfort zone and don’t leave, it is like a rubber bank not being touched for a while. The rubber band turns brittle and when it is stretched again it breaks. So, basically if you stay in your comfort zone you won’t survive and you can’t grow. In order to grow, you must be stretched, which means getting out of your comfort zone! Guess what? It will be painful. Growing or stretching is not easy, but it is necessary for your spiritual health!

Basically, I would prefer to live in a bubble where I can control everything, there is no change, and I can stay in my comfort zone. But that’s not where God has called me to be! Bringing all of this together: God is in control of everything! No matter how much I want to be in control, I never will be and neither will you. I have to let go and let God. When I let go of that control I open up room for change. And that change will most likely force me out of my comfort zone. When that pain of being out of my comfort zone begins, instead of going with it, I immediately try to take control again. The vicious cycle keeps repeating itself, but why?
I will never be in control that is a fact. Change may not always seem good at the time, but you are probably better off after the change than you were before. A few weeks ago when I was dealing with change and not happy with what I was finding about change in the Bible, God challenged me to take a look at the change I have been through in the past. He then asked if any of the change had turned out bad. I couldn’t argue with that. So, change is good. That leaves comfort zones. I need to become more okay with the pain of being out of my comfort zone.

Obviously, I am a work in process! I’m not perfect, and I don’t want to be! As I was writing this, God revealed to me that working through these issues involves surrendering these things to Him daily much like we die to ourselves and pick up our crosses daily. So, its time to surrender daily, dig into God’s word, and get closer to Him so I can work on my issues. If you struggle with control, change, and/or comfort zones I encourage you to do the same!

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