Disturb us, Lord

Disturb us, Lord, when
We are too well pleased with ourselves,
When our dreams have come true
Because we have dreamed too little,
When we arrived safely
Because we sailed too close to the shore.

Disturb us, Lord, when
With the abundance of things we possess
We have lost our thirst
For the waters of life;
Having fallen in love with life,
We have ceased to dream of eternity
And in our efforts to build a new earth,
We have allowed our vision
Of the new Heaven to dim.

Disturb us, Lord, to dare more boldly,
To venture on wider seas
Where storms will show your mastery;
Where losing sight of land,
We shall find the stars.
We ask You to push back
The horizons of our hopes;
And to push into the future
In strength, courage, hope, and love.
[Sir Francis Drake]

What keeps us from stepping outside of our comfort zone? Perhaps I just answered that question in its self because the word “comfort” is synonymous to us with soft, inviting, engrossing surroundings. Like laying in a comfortable bed surrounded by fluffy blankets and soft pillows on a cold winter morning, or snuggling on the sofa with a pet reading a good book on a rainy day. We don’t want to move from our comfort zone.

We tend to do the same thing in our religion. We stay in our zone of Christian friends in our safe neighborhood and go to our pretty, modern churches with comfortable pews on Sunday. We relish in the blessings of the Lord and cry out in dismay to Him when we are faced with trials like we are undeserving of anything but His best. But we do get His best, each and every day. He wants us to grow in our relationship with Him and sometimes that requires discomfort. But we can take comfort in knowing that Christ loves us. Paul wrote to the Philippians “if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, them make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose” (Philippians 2:1-2).

Our goal is to be more like Christ. He did not come to this world, giving up his glory in heaven, to be comfortable. He suffered shame, loss, heartache, and pain so that we could be forgiven and have eternal life. So the next time we get comfortable in our environment, consider what Paul continues to write, “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others” (Philippians 2:3-4). Let’s ask the Lord to disturb us, convict us, and give us a heart for the hurting. May we listen to the gentle prodding of the Holy Spirit and seek those who need our loving kindness in Christ Jesus. Psalm 147 says “He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds” (3). Are you the salve that God has sent to comfort the hurting?