Uncomfortability with Purpose

Throughout our lives, we find ourselves in moments and seasons of uncomfortability.  From unemployment, financial insecurity, relational strain, physical pain, to emotional stress, life is brimming with uncomfortability and times of uneasiness.  This is the norm for the human condition.  These moments, however long, propel us in a search for equilibrium, for a returned sense of comfort and relief.  

The reality is that moments of uncomfortability can mean something, in fact, they might be some of the most direct messages we can receive from the Lord.  If we acknowledge uncomfortability as a sense of uneasiness from the Lord, and we interpret this uneasiness as a prompt, then we will respond to uncomfortability in obedience and patience, understanding that it serves a divine purpose.

Think of David.  David spent years in a constant state of relational, political, emotional, and life-threatening upheaval.  Because of God's special anointing, Saul was constantly pursuing David and jealous of him.  As a result, David spent years living living in caves and on the run.  Talk about uneasiness.  However, even though David had to live in a perpetual years-long state of uncertainty he was obedient and faithful to the Lord, even composing many Psalms in his time of trouble and stress.

The time that David spent waiting to receive his God-ordained kingdom was the very thing that God used to sanctify and prepare David to become the greatest king in the history of Israel.  Although we may not have nearly the future responsibilities that David was to have, we are still being prepared through the times of stress and uncomfortability for what He has in store for us.

Sanctification takes time.  More than that, sanctification takes trials, and we should allow those trials to run their intended courses (Rom 5:1-5; James 1:2-4).  It is through suffering that we are made more like Christ because it is in times of trial that we are forced to make a conscious decision to rely on God or not.  This is the ultimate purpose of uncomfortable moments and seasons: that they would drive us to greater levels of devotion in the Lord.

Moments and seasons of life will be hard and uneasy.  However, when we go through these times we should strive to remain obedient and faithful, understanding that God uses the trials of uncomfortability and uneasiness to sanctify us for His purposes .  Let us hold steadfast in these times, remaining patient to the Lord and His will.  But He is good to keep us and to grow us into the men and women that He has designed us to be!