“REED” This
I’m Not Comfortable
Last week I had the wonderful opportunity to go on a trip with Debbie in celebration of our 30th wedding anniversary. We got married on June 15, 1991, but the first week of July worked out the best for the trip. We decided to go somewhere cooler than southeast Georgia, so we went to Estes Park, Colorado. I had been there before when I was a teenager, but Debbie had never been. I remembered it being a beautiful place and even in July, it was still cool and pleasant because of the altitude. Now, I’ve lived basically at sea level for 25 years and I’m used to a lot of oxygen in the air. Every time I have been to Colorado before, I have driven there, slowly getting higher and higher in elevation. This time, we flew from Savannah straight to Denver. As you know, Denver is known as the “Mile High City” because it is one mile high in elevation, 5,280 feet. The elevation of Estes Park is 7,522 feet. Needless to say, at that elevation, there’s not as much oxygen as here. As we got there late Sunday night, I hadn’t realized it being that different as I was busy getting luggage, getting my rental car, driving up to Estes Park and trying to find the lodge after dark where we stayed so I could finally get some rest after a long day of travel. The next morning, however, I could feel the difference. It wasn’t so much that I couldn’t breathe, I just had to take more breaths than usual. It was the sudden movements and getting up and down from a chair or the car that made me feel dizzy. I didn’t feel sick, just weird and different. After looking up some things on the phone, it was determined I had symptoms of altitude sickness. I’d never experienced this before. I’d been at these higher elevations several times and been fine. A little winded, but never dizzy or uncomfortable.
We feel uncomfortable sometimes when we are in new or different places. It’s not what we’re used to, so we are out of our comfort zones. But, if we just stay in the same place, we just see the same things. We have to go somewhere else, somewhere different, to see something new. In our Christian walk we are used to a weekly and even daily routine. We attend church services, Bible studies, and prayer groups. We participate in activities and help in specific areas in our leadership positions. We do all the normal things and we see God working and can even experience some great things. But when we get out of the normal routine, when we step out of our comfort zones and go and do something new or different, it is then we see God work in new and different ways. We can’t see mountains in southeast Georgia. We have to go somewhere else because there are no mountains here. We can’t keep doing the same things and expect different results in our service to God. He wants us to step out of our routine, do something new for Him, so He can show us even greater things. That’s how we grow. We may not feel comfortable with these new programs, methods, people, or even meeting places, but as God leads, we need to step out on faith and follow Him. As we do this, He is able to reveal Himself in new and greater ways.
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek His will in all you do, and He will show you which path to take.” Proverbs 3:5-6 NLT
“For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things He planned for us long ago.” Ephesians 2:10 NLT
“It was by faith that Abraham obeyed when God called him to leave home and go to another land that God would give him as his inheritance. He went without knowing where he was going.” Hebrews 11:8 NLT
Thanks to the Lord’s strength, we were able to go and do and see everything we had wanted while in Colorado. We were even able to go into the Rocky Mountain National Park up to 12,000 feet above sea level and see and enjoy God’s beautiful and magnificent creation. We never would have seen and experienced the grandeur and awesomeness of everything had we not gone. Pictures cannot come close to the experience of being there. God is truly awesome. But if we never step out of our comfort zones, never step out in faith, we will miss the greater depths of His awesomeness that He wants to reveal to us and wants us to experience with and through Him.
Bro. Paul Reed
Tuesday, July 13, 2021