The cost of comfort

We’re all faced with a lot of temptations to cheat in our lives. Don’t
cheat on your spouse, don’t cheat on your business partner and
don’t cheat on your taxes.

But there’s a less-obvious kind of cheating that will hound you to
your grave. It has to do with cheating yourself. Cheating on your
destiny. Taking a safe, comfortable route when what God made you for was
a purpose. As George Allen said, “Each of us has been put on earth
with the ability to do something well. We cheat ourselves and the world
if we don’t use that ability.”

Our society wants us to compromise on our
purpose, to make comfort our goal. Life in America is set up to meet your needs. We tell you what they are
early on. You are reminded of them through a thousand commercials. Your
hunger, your need to be entertained, your need to look good.

You’re free to do almost anything. As a college student, I loved the
freedom of dorm life. I loved being free to hang out at coffee shops. I
started a business as a freshman because I was free.

To do that, I had to resist the temptation to do what was normal, what
was expected of me. God was saying to me, “Here’s your purpose, I want
you to care for the poor and oppressed. But just realize, it will cost
you your comfort.” Isaiah 58 asks us to touch
the poor and oppressed in the world, to do for them what they can’t do for themselves.

We have a fundamental problem. We live in a risk-averse culture,
but we serve a Lord who continually asked his disciples to take big
risks and to set aside their comfort. How will you respond to that call?