How God’s Strength Inspires You To Abandon Your Comfort Zone
Life Lesson’s From Nitro
One of the great things about being a teacher is the end of the school year trips.
This year my colleagues and I took our high-schoolers to Six Flags. As I walked around the park with two of my co-workers, I was dancing and telling them how I wanted to make the most of my 29th year by getting out of my comfort zone and doing things that scared me. Now, I am not deathly afraid of roller coasters but there is a certain amount of fear I have when going on them.
If you’ve gotten on roller-coasters, you are familiar with that foreboding that comes before getting on a roller coaster. “Are these seats safe?” “Am I going to die?” “Is my heart going to stop?” I was particularly anxious about getting on Nitro. That jawn was HIGH and thinking about the drop had me feeling like my heart was indeed going to stop.
But I’m learning that although anxiety is something that is felt and hard to shake, it is not something that is meant to be given into. It is not something that I should allow to stop me from living my life and growing in the ways God wants me to grow.
With my co-worker I got on that yellow beast. The safety mechanisms were locked over our shoulders and I knew there was no turning back. We started the slow trek up the hill. The click-click-clicking of the ride building up the anticipation in my chest. There went the ground. There went the tops of the trees. And when we started the descent, there went my stomach.
But there also went my fear.
In my mind and in my body, I accepted the reality that I was on this roller-coaster and I was plummeting non-stop down its steel track. I accepted that my stomach was dropping and I went with it. I screamed for exhilaration and joy and allowed my senses to integrate with my reality, which helped me to feel present and alive.
Life Lesson’s From Psalms
As God’s beloved creations, He calls us into living life free from the control of anxiety. I’m reminded of Psalm 46:1-3 in this instance:
“God is our refuge and strength, always ready to help in times of trouble. So we will not fear when earthquakes come and the mountains crumble into the sea. Let the oceans roar and foam. Let the mountains tremble as the waters surge!”
Psalm 46:1-3
God is a mighty protector. He is always ready to help us when we face difficult situations and uncertain circumstances. Frightening difficulties and worrisome uncertainties are the food anxiety feeds off of. God is always ready to help us with these things. Since he is always ready to help, this support is meant to give us courage to face our anxieties and abandon our comfort zones! In Psalm 46, the writer was ready to face the destruction of the very world because they knew God’s character. They go on to accept the scary situations (Let the oceans roar and foam!) instead of resisting them or asking God to take them away. Is this not what abandoning your comfort zone looks like? The writer could have been very safe and comfortable running away from the earthquakes, crumbling of the mountains, and the roaring of the waters. But with God, they chose to abandon that comfort and stand in the truth of God’s strength and protection.
My encouragement to you, dear reader, is to acquaint yourself with the truth of God’s strength and his readiness to help you in life’s uncertainties and worrisome situations. His strength will help you abandon your comfort zone and ride the Nitros of life.
Love and Light,
Kourtney Naomi
