Sent Out From Our Comfort Zone

We all are familiar with the story of the Exodus about the Israelites escaping Egypt. Our bible translations show Moses relaying God's demand to Pharaoh: "Let my people go!". However, I recently read an article explaining a more accurate translation of the Hebrew phrase as "send my people out". And let us not miss the rest of God's message to Pharaoh: "Send my people out so they may worship me."Show more

God wasn't only sending his people out of Egypt into a barren wilderness, He was sending them out to their calling: to worship Him as they journeyed to the Promised Land.

Let us look at the attitude of the Israelites. They had cried out to God about their misery and He heard them and sent Moses to lead them out of Egypt. Yet, they doubted Moses as their deliverer and even stopped listening to Moses when their hardship increased under the Pharaoh.

The Israelites were comfortable in the familiarity of their slavery. Even though it was a hard, restrictive life, they knew what to expect each day, they knew where to get provisions, they had the familiarity of their homes and the way of life that surrounded them. But now, a man named Moses told them that God was providing a path for them to leave their bondage in Egypt. They were probably hoping for just a better, easer life within Egypt...and not actually leave everything they knew.

In the midst of their familiar surroundings and daily living, leaving Egypt had to be a hard concept to absorb. Many must have wondered why go into the unknown and many were probably fearful of the unknown. The miraculous 10 plagues against Egypt were just as much a benefit to the Israelites as it was to convincing the Pharaoh to send them out. Through the experience of being protected from each plague, the Israelites witnessed God's power which surely developed their faith that He would continue to provide and protect them after leaving Egypt.

Even as the Israelites began their journey out of Egypt, they would continue to experience fear and uncertainty and desire to return to the familiar. We read in Exodus 14:11-12,

‭They said to Moses, “Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you brought us to the desert to die? What have you done to us by bringing us out of Egypt? Didn’t we say to you in Egypt, ‘Leave us alone; let us serve the Egyptians’? It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the desert!”

Are we living like the Israelites in Egypt? Is there something that God is calling you to step into but you are afraid to leave what is comfortable and familiar? When we are comfortable, we are afraid to step out of it. Is there something new that God is calling you to? Is there a habit, a mindset, an environment, or a social circle in our life which God is telling us to move away from? Is He calling you to visit a church? Is He calling you to reach out and get to know the people in your neighborhood? Is He calling you to share your testimony with others? Is He calling you to forgive someone and to let go of a wrong committed against you? Is He calling you to use a skill or talent to serve others?

God had to literally "kick out" the Israelites out of their comfort zone into something new. Sometimes he uses unexpected changes in our day to day life to kick us out of our comfort zone so we will enter a new door and start the next chapter he has waiting for us.

It can be intimidating, unsettling and fearful to enter into what seems to us as an unknown wilderness. However, it is not an unknown wilderness to God. He knows what is ahead for each of us and it is always going to be something great, something wonderful, something we cannot fathom. As God tells us in Jeremiah 29:11,

"For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."

Whenever we are stepping out to enter a new door, a new calling or a new chapter in our lives, we can be assured that God will be there to guide us... to guide us into his perfect plan for us. He will be there even when we find parts of our new chapter challenging or uncertain. So when we do find it difficult, we can't be like the Israelites and quit listening to God and give up. As our loving God tells us in ‭Isaiah 41:10,

"Do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand."

Moses reminded the Israelites of similar encouraging words of God's promise to protect and guide them as they stood trapped between the Egyptians and the Red Sea. We read in Exodus 14:13-14,

"Moses answered the people, “Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again. The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.”

The Lord will do the same for us. We just need to seek him and ask him for wisdom, courage and faith to step into what He has waiting for us and remember that whatever He has for us is better than where we were. With that knowledge, we can have the courage to be "sent out" of our comfort zone into God's calling...into His perfect plans for hope and a future.

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