[Gary Petty] My wife and I just went through one of those life-changing experiences. For years we’ve lived in Texas, south Texas, and pastored congregations down there and many people that we loved. We were comfortable. It was a good place. We knew where the grocery store was. We had all kinds of habits. Well, we were just transferred to Tennessee. We had to say goodbye to hundreds of people that we’ve loved for many years, and we had to pack up everything and move to something new. And in this experience of doing that, and the stress of going through it, my wife and I have had a lot of conversations about what we’re learning from this.

One of the things that’s obvious from going through this is that sometimes, we get very comfortable in life. We get into where life and can be very habitual, we’re comfortable with the people we know, we’re comfortable with the things we do, and God says every once in a while, “You’ve got to get out of your comfort zone”.

It’s the thing about growth, and I think the older you get, the more difficult it is. You look at children, who love to learn, who love to grow, and get out of their comfort zones very easily as they explore and they expand. The older you get, the more difficult it is to do that. Well, God forced us out of our comfort zone, and we have to learn to meet new people and love new people and create new relationships. We have to learn where the grocery store is, get lost a lot as we drive around and try to learn the lay of the land. But in this, in this experience, we’ve grown in a number of ways – very personal ways, ways we’ve talked about, and ways that have enriched our lives.

So next time you’re in a situation where it seems like, “Wait a minute, I’m comfortable. I like my life the way it is. I don’t like this change” – step back a little bit. Maybe God is just pushing you a little bit out of your comfort zone. And in that experience, you can grow spiritually, you can grow mentally, you can grow socially. So don’t get too comfortable. God has a way of pushing us out of our comfort zones.

I’m Gary Petty. This is BT Daily.