Comfort, The Catalyst For Settling
Have you ever felt stuck in a place God once used to bless you? Maybe you even thanked Him for it in the past—but now, something feels different. Deep down, you sense God is leading you somewhere new, but the comfort of the familiar holds you back.
This has certainly been the case for me throughout the various seasons of my own life and walking with the Lord. Oftentimes, God opens the door to places, friendships, connections, jobs, and opportunities for a specific time and season.
These God-given opportunities are always good and they are intended to propel us into our destinies. But if we’re not able to discern when to move on to the next thing God is calling us to do, we risk the chance of becoming stuck in something that was only meant to be temporary in our lives.
Where you were once blessed, prosperous, and happy, you may be feeling oppressed, a sense of lack, or even hopelessness—like there’s no way out. My friend, God wants to deliver you from these feelings and lead you on the journey to the next season of your life.
If, just like me, you feel stuck in the comfort of the familiar in many areas of your life right now, let me encourage you by telling you that it’s not too late—there is hope in Jesus!
Discerning The Times and The Seasons In Our Lives
Life is seasonal. People, jobs, assignments, friends, and opportunities come and go. There is nothing wrong with this—it’s just how life works.
When we are kids, we go to school to learn. The learning years from Kindergarten to High School are supposed to be for a time and a season. We’re not meant to stay there as perpetual students for the rest of our lives. If we do, we will become stuck. We won’t move on to college, work, get married, and have kids like regular adults.
We must also recognize that many times God sends people into our lives to help us on an assignment for a time and a season. Their help or advice was God-sent and necessary for that specific time. But if we fail to discern their assignment in our lives and become too close to them beyond the mission they had to accomplish, keeping them near, we risk the chance of becoming stuck. Their presence and influence in our lives after the assignment might hinder our growth and provoke an unnecessary delay.
Likewise, God might ask us to move to a different country or city, open the door to a job, or give us the chance to do something for His Kingdom. This is all good, and God sends these opportunities to propel us into our destinies. But it is our job to be attentive to the leading of the Holy Spirit and know when it is time to move on from those assignments to pursue the next thing God is calling us to do. If we fail to discern God’s leading in our lives and become too comfortable, we risk the chance of becoming stuck.
Could it be that you, too, are holding onto something God once used in your life but is now asking you to release?
To better illustrate this principle, let’s take a closer look at the story of Israel, and more precisely, the story of Joseph found in Genesis 37–50.
When God Opens A Door, It Is Always For A Greater Good
Joseph, the son of Jacob, is the very popular and brave character in the Bible who was sold as a slave to Egypt by his brothers, thrown in prison over something he didn’t do, and interpreted Pharaoh's dreams. After interpreting Pharaoh’s dreams, Joseph suggested that during the seven years of abundance they should save all the food possible to have sufficient provision to survive the seven years of famine. Pharaoh thought that was brilliant advice and decided to put Joseph in charge over all the land of Egypt, second under him.
When the 7 years of famine came, Joseph’s brothers traveled to Egypt to buy food. When Joseph saw them, he asked them to come dwell in that land with him since there were enough provisions there for all of his family to survive, and so they did.
Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Your father and your brothers have come to you. The land of Egypt is before you. Settle your father and your brothers in the best of the land. Let them settle in the land of Goshen, and if you know any able men among them, put them in charge of my livestock.”
—Genesis 47: 5–6
Joseph had found favor in the sight of Pharaoh and when his family came to him in a time of need, Pharaoh opened up the best of the land of Egypt for the Isrealites to settle there. He even gave them jobs to be in charge of his livestock.
Overstaying A Place That Was Only Meant To Be Temporary
God had a purpose to protect His people from the famine, and that’s why He sent Joseph to Egypt in advance—to save his father and brothers from starving to death and keep the twelve tribes of Israel alive. To protect His chosen people, God opened the best of the land of Egypt through Pharaoh for a time and a season. The Isrealites were not supposed to stay in Egypt for longer than was necessary, for they had their own promised land.
Then a new king, to whom Joseph meant nothing, came to power in Egypt. “Look,” he said to his people, “the Israelites have become far too numerous for us. Come, we must deal shrewdly with them or they will become even more numerous and, if war breaks out, will join our enemies, fight against us and leave the country.”
So they put slave masters over them to oppress them with forced labor, and they built Pithom and Rameses as store cities for Pharaoh. But the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and spread; so the Egyptians came to dread the Israelites and worked them ruthlessly. They made their lives bitter with harsh labor in brick and mortar and with all kinds of work in the fields; in all their harsh labor the Egyptians worked them ruthlessly. —Exodus 1:8–14
For a long time the Israelites were safe, happy, and very prosperous in Egypt. But the problem was that they made themselves too comfortable in a place that was not meant to be permanent. They ended up overstaying their welcome.
Because they failed to discern the appropriate time to leave and move on, they ended up becoming slaves in the land where they once had power, influence, and riches. That very place where they once were blessed, became the place of their captivity.
Years went by in their slavery until one day the Isrealites remembered their God. Then they began to pray and supplicate to the Lord for their deliverance. God heard their cry and raised Moses to deliver them from the bondage of Egypt and lead them into their promised land.
Becoming Too Comfortable In The Familiar
Just as the Isrealites became comfortable in a place that was meant to be temporary, we can also become too comfortable and familiar with people, places, and situations that were only intended to be transitory in our lives.
Comfort can be a catalyst for:
Hindering our growth and advancement in life
Missing out on the new thing God has for our lives
Becoming stuck in a place that’s no longer for us
Sometimes, what feels like comfort is actually fear wearing a disguise. Fear of the unknown. Fear of letting go. Fear of starting over. But staying stuck in the familiar can cost us the very breakthrough God is trying to bring.
While comfort may feel… comfortable because it’s familiar, if it’s not where God wants us to be in this new season, it can lead to uneasiness and a sense of being stuck. It’s important for us not to fall into this trap and miss where God is calling us out of fear or discomfort.
Our comfort can lead to our disobedience, and when we disobey God, we can become stuck and delay the new season that’s ahead. That’s why we need to be attentive to the leading of the Holy Spirit telling us to leave behind places, people, and even opportunities that might be near and dear to us.
Stepping Out In Faith
In order to move out of that place of bondage and captivity, we need to step out in faith into the new thing God has for us—with the leading of the Holy Spirit.
Stepping out in faith and trusting God can be hard because it requires us to move out of our comfort zone into the unknown. But doing so is absolutely necessary for our growth, progress, and the fulfillment of our calling in life.
If you are feeling stuck in any area of your life, I encourage you to ask God to reveal to you that thing that's hindering you. Then ask the Lord to show you where He’s leading you to and step out in faith into the new season He has for you.
Take a quiet moment today. Ask the Holy Spirit to speak clearly. Write down what He shows you. And don’t be afraid to take that first step—even if it’s small.
I promise it will be worth it!
Much Love,
Jackie 