The dictionary defines ‘comfort zone’ as a place or a situation where a person feels secure, safe, and without stress. All of us have a place and space that we believe to be neutral. It may not be optimum, but it is a mental and emotional place where we are not forced to confront stuff we don’t want to. In other words, our comfort zones make us feel in control, and our comfort zones don’t produce constant levels of stress and anxiety that we don’t think we can handle. In a believer’s walk with Jesus Christ, a person’s comfort zone is often challenged. This forces us to deal with a truth that many believers refuse to consider, and it is the reality that where we are today is not where we will be tomorrow. Things will not remain the same, and the times will require more of us spiritually. If our comfort zone prevents us from being the conquerors in Christ that God has called us to be, we will not be ready for the challenges or the breakthroughs that lie ahead.
The Biblical knowledge that you and I hold today isn’t going to produce a greater existence if we don’t increase it. There are a lot of individuals that are just fine with where they are until something happens to make them uncomfortable. They can deal with a little discomfort, but when things get intense, and their comfort zone is diminishing, panic sets in. By the time we get to full-blown panic mode, we are usually exhausted from the attack, and then what happens? Many of us give up because we haven’t learned to walk in our Christ authority. What does giving up look like? For many of us, it’s looks like Hosea 4:6(NIV), where God said, “my people are destroyed from lack of knowledge.”
What we don’t know severely harms us, especially in spiritual warfare. When our comfort zone is attacked, it is usually at a point where our destiny in Christ is clashing with our wills. We are destined in the Will of God to be at a certain place at a certain time according to what is written in our books in heaven, but our free-will choice is taking us in another direction. Our free-will choice is to remain right where we are, in our comfort zone, and to fight as hard as we can to preserve our current positioning.
Panic takes the need for a breakthrough to a whole other level, because it makes us feel desperate for solutions, and it also frustrates everything within us because our minds are without the knowledge they need for clever and wise thinking. God tells us in Philippians 4:6(NIV), “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.” We know that God changes things through our fervent and earnest prayers to Him. Therefore, when there’s a need for a breakthrough, we intensify our prayer efforts. But often, we are praying to get back to the place of our comfort zone, and we should be praying to turn it loose.
With God, there is never regression, but always progression and elevation. This is very clearly demonstrated in His Word. When Jesus Christ healed and delivered folks, his instruction to the recipient was to break the patterns of their usual routine, and to change for the better. If there is no intention on our parts to increase in spiritual strength and to break from old patterns of our old nature, those same demons that attacked and oppressed us before will perceive a welcome mat. They were comfortable with us before, and if we have not further saturated ourselves in the authority of Christ, they will seek to be comfortable with us again.
A breakthrough is indeed a breaking. And because many believers have not perceived it as such, they have not met its requirements. In truth, we should be experiencing breakthroughs all the time because we serve a Mighty, Glorious God that has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in Christ. We should be meeting God at a place in our prayers where we desire and have faith to receive revelation from Him. The person that does not want to change and has convinced themselves that they know enough about God’s Word and about Jesus Christ already is a person that is not able to maintain a breakthrough, and therefore, may not recognize it when it is upon them.
Romans 12:2 commands us to let God transform us by changing the way we think. We must not allow ourselves to consider any other thing than what God has said here. He transforms us when we renew our minds to His Word. If we do not renew our minds to His Word, our transformation is delayed. So, what we learn from the many examples in God’s Word is that those who receive the most impressive and lasting breakthroughs are those that create within themselves the greatest space for them. This is seen in the record of Ruth in the Old Testament. She created space when she pledged herself in service to God and to her mother-in-law, Naomi. In Ruth 1:16(NLT), she told Naomi, “Don’t ask me to leave you and turn back. Wherever you go, I will go; wherever you live, I will live. Your people will be my people, and your God will be my God.” Ruth abandoned her practice of idolatry and pledged to worship our Heavenly Father, the One True God. Her breakthrough came in the form of a husband, Boaz, a man that would be a conduit of God’s protection and provision for not just Ruth, but her mother-in-law as well. Her commitment to serve God and others caused her increase.
Some of us look upon our comfort zones in a very casual manner. We cling to the familiar, but we must always remember God’s requirements. His plan is that we increase in the spiritual strength and authority of Jesus Christ through prayer, but also through the knowledge of His Word. The world is increasingly darker and more complex, and we can’t turn a blind eye to this. That is exactly what the adversary wants, he wants us blind and ignorant of our authority and power in Christ so he can gain dominance in all the institutions and systems of this world.
As sons and daughters of God, we have received the authority of Christ, and we must learn to use it. Spiritual warfare has increased to level 10, and many of us are still at level 3. We can do something about this, and now is the time. Spiritual warfare is not child’s play, but we were not created to lose. We are in the earth to reign and to expand God’s Kingdom. We are more than conquerors through our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ! Be committed to increase your knowledge of Christ and to pray more. Ask God to teach you what you need to know so that your comfort zone does not keep you comfortable in spiritual infancy. The times demand that we are fully clothed in God’s armor, so we can be the spiritual warriors He has called us to be!■
Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
“Is Prayer Enough for Breakthroughs?” written by Reverend Fran Mack, edited by Kim Times, for Sundie Morning Sistas ©2021. All rights reserved. All done to the glory of God through Jesus Christ, our Lord!