Comfort Zone

Comfort Zone

Do not be stubborn . . . but submit yourselves to the LORD.

2 Chronicles 30:8

I was eating dinner with my dad and several other family members one night, when he broached the subject of Internet connections.

“When I try to send an e-mail, I keep getting this error message that something has reached capacity,” he said.

Everybody else kept eating; maybe they were thinking or trying to figure out the problem.

“The hamster gets tired, so he gets off the wheel,” I explained.

He looked at me. “What are you talking about?”

“When the hamster gets tired, he gets off the wheel, and that dial-up service you have goes down until he rests up and gets back on the wheel.” I took another bite.

“What can I do?”

“Get another Internet provider. That way you can get a DSL and download attachments, something the hamster won’t let you do now.”

He took another couple of bites. “Will it cost more than eight dollars a month for me to change?”

“Yes.”

“No way.”

“Okay, but one day the hamster will die, and you will have no Internet service.”

I just love that look he gives me—the “why did I ask her when it’s only going to end up costing me more money” look.

I understand his reluctance. A new provider would take him out of his comfort zone. He would have to learn new tricks, new ways of doing things. But isn’t that what God wants, too—to roust us out of our comfort zones so that we have only his hand to guide us? He wants us to depend totally on him, not on ourselves.

—Stevie Stevens

Father, take me out of my comfort zone more often so that I can reach more people with your love and mercy. And, Lord, please make me more willing to go wherever you lead me. Amen.