I love the way God works when He wants to speak to us. For me, it often means being hit over the head with the same information in different formats multiple times. Okay, maybe “hit over the head” is a little extreme. Perhaps it’s subtle, but definitely not missed.
For instance, I’m currently reading Goliath Must Fall by Louie Giglio. Before I started the book, I asked myself, “What are my giants?” The first—and only—one that came to mind was fear. Not surprisingly, fear is the first giant Giglio writes about.
What did surprise me is that I have more giants than I realized. I lumped them all together under the name of fear, but it turns out rejection is also one of my giants. Thinking about my history, a giant of rejection makes sense.
The giant that took me by surprise, the one I didn’t realize was causing me any problems was comfort.
Whoa. Comfort is bad?
Yes, it can be, because “faith thrives in holy discomfort.”
Giglio says one of the ways we battle the giant of comfort is to align ourselves with God. He quotes John 9:4, “We must quickly carry out the tasks assigned us by the one who sent us. The night is coming, and then no one can work.” (NLT). Giglio points out that we need to be intentional about who we align ourselves with, about what we spend our time doing and how we prioritize our life.
Then I came upon this motivational speech by Matthew McConaughey. I don’t watch many videos, but had to watch this one because he’s one of my favorite actors. While he doesn’t talk about David and Goliath, I found much of what he said reverberating with what God was speaking to me about the giant of comfort.
McConaughey says twice during the short video: “Where you are not is just as important as where you are.”
He talks about the things we find ourselves doing out of habit—out of comfort—that aren’t good for us; things or people that keep us from being who we are supposed to be. It’s a speech that feels geared toward the young, but it’s a good message for us all, especially us middle-age-ish ones who have found a degree of success and a comfortable life.
Comfort is deadly to our soul if we choose it over the path God has set before us.
