Gutsy Faith: The Comfort Test for Christians
According to Gari Meacham and Carla Della Femina, America craves comfort and because of that, Christians too often fall into the culture’s “play it safe” mindset. This inevitably causes them to miss out on God’s higher plan in the middle of uncomfortable seasons.
On an episode of Gutsy Faith, Meacham and Femina use an unnamed and overlooked young girl’s story in 2 Kings 5 to display how stepping out of the comfortable to embrace God’s best plan is worth every ounce of pain it affords.
During a time when Syria was overtaking Israel and human trafficking was still a tragic reality, a little girl taken from everything she knew found herself waiting on the wife of Naaman, the captain of the Syrian army.
Meacham and Femina share how although this brave girl had every right to use her discomfort as a reason to turn a blind eye to Naaman’s leprosy, she spoke up and pointed him in the direction of the prophet, Elisha, where he could find hope and healing.
From a young girl’s unlikely courage in the face of unimaginable discomfort, Christians can glean three ways to embrace uncomfortable seasons:
- Be confident. The little girl put her confidence not in herself but in her God.
- Be ready. Even though she was uncomfortable, she provided comfort to the people who put her in a horrible position.
- Be bold. Her faithfulness in the middle of the pain gave her the strength to be brave.
“What if God asked you to be faithful in an uncomfortable situation?” Meacham said, urging viewers to take hold of discomfort because God has a plan and He is working through it.
Just like the young girl, sometimes God asks people to trust Him even when it doesn’t make sense, especially when comfort is far out of reach. “Don’t be afraid of discomfort,” Meacham said, because it may just propel someone from one season to the next best thing God has in store.
When believers’ faith impacts their environment for the progression of the kingdom of God, uncomfortable situations turn into welcome and necessary gifts.
Click the video above to dive deeper into the heroism of the girl in 2 Kings and be encouraged to be faithful in the small things to experience the big purpose God calls each person to live out every day.
