Scripture
“Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”
JAMES 1:2-4
Quotes/Color
“Prosperity hardens the heart.”
William Wilberforce
“This hill, though high, I covet to ascend;
The difficulty will not me offend.
For I perceive the way to life lies here.
Come, pluck up, heart; let’s neither faint nor fear.
Better, though difficult, the right way to go,
Than wrong, though easy, where the end is woe.”
John Bunyan, The Pilgrim’s Progress
“Good fortune corrupts and bad fortune instructs.”
Boethius
Context
There are two ways to take James 1:2-4…
- Welcome trials and adversity – God builds perseverance through these things and builds you a more mature faith. Or,
- Avoid too much comfort – If you’re only comfortable in life and don’t face trials and adversity, you’re at risk of having no endurance and immature in your faith.
Take #1 can be found in a different Devo. This one is about Take #2.
Application
Look at the quotes above again. Some of my favorites.
All of them warm against the same thing…
If things are too comfortable for you for too long, you’re not growing.
It’s one thing to welcome adversity and choose to view it in a positive light. It’s another thing entirely to be watchful of lack of adversity – to spend too much time in comfort.
“Prosperity hardens the heart.”
“Good fortune corrupts…”
It is important to not only welcome difficulties in life – let them in and ask God how them being introduced can build perseverance and wisdom in us… But it is also important to acknowledge that this is difficult in the first place because above anything else we tend to pursue comfort.
There is more reward found outside of comfort. You have to press yourself to find it.
Now little comforts are fine. Don’t misunderstand. I don’t intend to say that you should wake up every morning at 4am to a breakfast of lentils and dry oats and follow it up with a quick cold plunge before heading off to crossfit.
I mean if you don’t do that you’re soft and a total beta. But…
It’s not about that. It’s about the objective of your life.
Is the ultimate objective of your life to be as comfortable as possible? Do you detest getting outside of your comfort zone? The people you are comfortable with in the places you are comfortable with at the times you are most comfortable?
If it is, be careful. You may find yourself with a hard heart (little compassion towards others), corrupt (narrow-minded) and frail (no perseverance).
“Better, though difficult, the right way to go,
Than wrong, though easy, where the end is woe.”
Choose to lean into discomfort today and away from comfort, where appropriate. It is where growth in your walk with the Lord happens.
Something to Chew On:
- Think through your normal day from beginning to end… How much of it is cushioned in comfort?
- What could venturing outside of your comfort zone look like practically? What could it develop in you spiritually?
GreatValue Proverb:
Life is not all about comfort
