Addicted to Comfort

Welcome to another foray into free-fall, free-flowing, straight from the heart, as-it-comes writing with Five Minute Friday.

Today's prompt is:'Comfort'

Start...

Comfort

We are addicted to comfort

security and safety hardwired into our systems

ease a priority

sought with urgency.

Solace-seeking in bottles, pills and potions

soothing fragrant oils and lotions.

We are addicted to comfort

loving our tribe

the ones we feel

comfortable with

our inner circles so tight

they are barriers to entry.

We are addicted to comfort

church has cliques

newcomers meet and greet

smiles exchanged

then we spend time

in the company of the familiar.

We are addicted to comfort

wanting life smooth, no rocks

no hard pathways to travel

or pain to endure.

We are addicted to comfort

feeling safe, secure 

in what we know

how we live

who we are.

Until...

God rocks our little boat

right out the water

tips us upside down

alters our worldview.

We are addicted to comfort

but it's not about us at all.

It's about leaning into Him,

learning, stretching, growing,

giving and pouring out

lives surrendered, given over;

abiding in the Vine

allowing Him to nourish, strengthen,

enable, equip,

freely received grace freely given

to the uncomfortable ones

who live with hope, expectancy

of seeing change

only God can bring.

Stop.

"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God" ~ 2 Corinthians 1:3 - 4

Linking here with Lisa-Jo Baker for Five Minute Friday. Do hop over and join in. You're very welcome!

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A familiar fear

It creeps up on me again.

'You've really done it This Time'. 

Whispers close.

Breathing and hissing out its venom.

A voice I know too well and cannot ignore.

Did I think I could break the habits of a lifetime?

When life is littered with a trail of:
 
Unfinished projects 

Dreams unfulfilled
 
Tasks to be done
 
A heavy weight of expectancy burying all hopes of finally achieving my goals

This year I had a dream. I went public with it. Shared it openly. Making the humiliation complete. When failure seems to be a default position for a person with perfectionism allied with chronic physical illness and weakness.

Failure

Looming 

over it all

A word 

that marks us out

Gives away 

our inner state

Overshadows hope

Brings grief 

and gloom

Pain 

and sadness

Bleeds despair

Awful in 

its familiarity

Pinned on a board

Marked on a card

Stamped on a form

Spoken over us

Engraved on 

our hearts

Fresh wound to add 

to all the rest

Yet another

Failure

©JoyLenton2013

Did I really expect it to be any different This Time?

Don't these patterns repeat themselves ad infinitum?

No. No. And Thrice No. It needn't be that way. We can step off that treadmill!

" I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work" ~ Thomas Eddison

Too often, our ideas of failure stem from a heightened expectation of the perceived outcome, rather than genuine slip-ups or mistakes. We can be our own worst enemies in many respects.

In writing about my fear of failure in following my God-sized dream, I am looking to follow Holley's encouragement to also seek the truth that's bigger than that fear.

I am discovering there is freedom in learning to let go of:

The pretence of having-it-all-together

Perfectionist tendencies

People approval issues

Memories of past failures

Unrealistic expectations

Low self-esteem

Instead, I am learning to embrace:

The truth of who I am in Christ

Knowing that God's perfect love casts out fear

Being a 'work in progress'

Making mistakes as a way of growth

Falling down only to get up again

Resilience rather than defeatism

Failure needn't mean stopping something. It doesn't have to signal an end. Rather, it is an open door of opportunity for growth, for learning, and developing the fruit of patience, wisdom, endurance and  perseverance

The truth is that God's word and His grace are far bigger than any fear

As we allow His word to invade our hearts and minds, absorb its message and let it penetrate our understanding, it gradually fills the space where fear and dread once lived.

Freedom comes from surrendering fear and substituting it with faith

Despite the way it may feel, failure can be a stepping-stone to success as we yield to the lessons it teaches us. All it takes is a recognition of our need and courage to want to overcome the paralysing affects fear has on our everyday lives.

This may be one of those times for you too. Whatever your particular fear might be, will you join me as we 'feel the fear and do it anyway'? 

We are not alone. God has gone ahead of us to prepare the way we will walk in and we have the reassurance of His word:

"For God did not give us a spirit of timidity (of cowardice, of craven and cringing and fawning fear), but He has given us a spirit of power and of love and of calm and well-balanced mind and discipline and self-control" ~ 2 Timothy 1:7 (Amplified)

Let's aim to:
 
Heed His voice more than our feelings.

Rest our restless hearts in His Presence.
                                              
Immerse ourselves in His word.

Trust that God is changing us little by little.

Take tentative steps of faith that will grow with practise.

Believe we can be Overcomers in this area too.

Seek support and encouragement from others.

Pause to ponder:

What fears are holding you back from realising your dreams?
How do you plan to conquer them?

In this post I am linking up with Holley Gerth and the rest of the God-sized Dream team. We'd love you to join us on the journey. More to come next week!

You can also connect with me on Facebook or Twitter

Top Ten Posts in 2012

A very Happy New Year to you all!

Dear Readers/Friends,

It has been an honour and privilege to share my heart and life with you in 2012. 

Here are the Top Ten posts that have been most popular, so you can enjoy them again or maybe read for the first time if you are new here:

1 )The Age of Conversation

2) How does your garden grow?

3) Run out of steam?

4) Because you're worth it

5) Taking a leap of faith

6) Broken hearts...broken lives

7) Out of my depth

8) Grace Notes:An Introduction

9) Becoming

10) Moving on

The title of the last post listed here reminds us of the sands of time that are forever moving inexorably on. We cannot fight it. But we can embrace the new in order to make way for progress, change, renewal and restoration in the year ahead. 

I look forward to sharing with and hearing from you in this new year as we move upward and onward to discover all the potential in front of us yet to be enjoyed by God's grace.

As a bonus, until my next post, I include my latest poem for you:

Anew

Celebrated arrival cloaked

in virginal innocence.

A blank sheet

clean slate

rose-kissed dawn

pregnant with possibility.

Viewed with eyes

of wonder

intrigue

suspicion

awe 
breath-held fear

and great curiosity.

What if?

What if THIS -

is the time

promises are kept

dreams come true

lessons are learnt

goals are met?

Will problems rule

and reign again?

Will love flourish

or die?

Will we rush 

with open-armed embrace

or turn aside?

No easy answers

rise to our lips.

This takes

steely determination

raw courage

blind optimism

great faith.

As we plunge

into The Unknown -

unfamiliar territory

anchored by memory

of past victories

of battles won;

we too

 will overcome.

©JoyLenton2012

Coming up on the blog soon:

• Thinking about how life is for those who struggle in various ways
• Looking at embracing my God-sized dream
• Further Grace Notes reflections

To stay tuned for all this and more, please consider connecting by Google-plus, subscribing by email or connecting with me on Facebook or Twitter.