Don’t get too Comfy!

As Calum and I look back on married life, we see that at times, we have been quite guilty of becoming too comfortable in our day to day life and surroundings. Not that there's anything wrong with being comfortable and content, I’d much rather that, than never being happy with our lot in life. But sometimes though, it can creep in and we can become quite complacent. Areas can be neglected because we have grown too familiar with them and we begin to let things slide because we have gotten comfortable and it’s a hassle for us to change things.

For example a year or two after we moved into this house, we experienced a few leaks in one particular area of the kitchen ceiling. A central heating pipe had burst one morning, causing a continuous flow of water to flood down through the ceiling. Then, a toilet cistern fell over whilst Calum was working with it and all the water poured out of it through the ceiling. It all culminated when we needed a hole made in the outside wall for the shower waste pipe to go through. The walls are so thick that a wet drill had to be used. This caused even more water to leak in through our already damaged ceiling, until the point that the ceiling collapsed.

Thankfully we had actually finished dinner when that whole section fell down and landed on the middle of the kitchen table!! 🙈 It wasn’t the best evening we have had and to be honest we both felt like running away. However after it was all tidied up, we both just got so used to it! I think in the end it was just over a year we lived with that gaping hole above our table. We had to warn visiting kids not to run into that room upstairs, if they were playing hide and seek. If they had opened that door into that room then they would have landed downstairs onto the kitchen table!

13 months later 🙈

The point is though. We were so comfortable with it that quite often we forgot it was even there! It wouldn’t be until we had visitors over or a tesco delivery driver or someone else, that they would mention the hole and ask what had happened. We could never quite work out what they were referring to, as we had almost forgotten about it and then it would click. Sometimes I could see people eyeing it up and I’d think I better explain that it’s ok and we do plan to eventually fix it. The longer it went on, I did start to get a bit embarrassed when people realised that it wasn’t a recent problem. Especially if it was guests that had already seen it and this was them here again and we still hadn’t fixed it!

At the minute we have the same issue with our kitchen sink! The cold water tap is completely broken and in-order to replace it, it requires removing the entire kitchen sink. If you have seen our kitchen sink then you will know this is not an easy job. I also don’t want to spend a lot of money repairing it as one day I would like to get a new sink and taps. So, for the time being, our friend has diverted our cold water pipe over the side of the sink via a white plastic pipe, with a washing machine valve on the end to turn in order to let the water out. This was a temporary measure done 6 weeks ago, so that we could get water in the kitchen until we fix it. Our friend joked that knowing us he would come back in a year's time and it would still be like that! I’m afraid it’s looking like he could be right. With new lockdown measures, I’m just going to get even more comfortable with it as I wont be needing to explain it to any visitors to the house as there aren't going to be any! 😏

We are just so guilty of letting things slide and growing comfortable with them! I could continue on and give you lots more examples but I think you get the point! Sadly though we are just as guilty in our spiritual lives too. I can remember a time when I used to ask Calum if he was ever afraid of what God might do to actually wake us up to get our attention! We settle into a rut and we just become comfortable with the way we are. Usually in the house we wait till we are pushed into fixing the problems. The issue has actually become problematic or ugly that we have no choice but to do something. Sometimes though we maybe would have guests coming and I would begin to see the leaks and the holes and the missing taps through their eyes and I think ‘right, we need to do something about this!’

I am the exact same with God. I let things begin to slide and before I know it I have grown comfortable with where I am spiritually. My prayer life becomes stale, my bible reading is only habitual on the best of days and I’m content to let it be that way. It is probably the hardest thing I struggle with as a christian. Just becoming lazy and comfortable. As it is with my house, it’s the same in my life. I wait until problems arise and I’m forced to do something about my prayer life and my relationship with God. I'm left with no other option but to turn to God. Either that or I get a glimpse of what my ‘comfortable christianity’ looks like through God's eyes or someone else's eyes and I think ‘ok, I need to take action now.’

2 Timothy 2:15 says;

“Work hard so you can present yourself to God and receive his approval. Be a good worker, one who does not need to be ashamed..”

Sadly there has been many occasions in my life when this couldn’t have been said about me. I was not working hard. I would rather have been comfortable. Thankfully though, God, in his grace has been patient with me. He was not prepared to let me waste away in my laziness. He has a plan for me and he is willing to do what it takes to get me uncomfortable with where I am.

There are plenty of examples in the bible of those that grew too comfortable in life. There is Sisera in Judges ch4, curled up asleep in the tent of Jael. He lay there sound asleep while she murdered him.

I think of Samson, comfortable in the arms of Delilah. He told her his greatest secret and she betrayed him.

I think of the Rich man in Luke ch12 who was so comfortable in his nice life that he made all his plans for the future in-order to gain more wealth and forgot to include God in his plans.

I think of the Church of Laodicea in Revelation ch3, the bible describes them as being lukewarm. They had become so comfortable that they couldn’t be described as hot or cold. God said that he would spit them out of his mouth!

I don’t want to live the rest of my Christian life just being comfortable. Overlooking not only all my problems but those of others too, that they might need help in ‘repairing themselves’. Neither do I want to become so accustomed to sin that I grow numb to it.

I look back on many wasted years and I feel like that time is lost, I can never get it back again. However instead of becoming bogged down by that, I am reminded, probably of the biggest example in the bible of those who became comfortable in their settings; the children of Israel. How often we read in the old testament of them continually growing comfortable in their lives and turning their back on God and living to please themselves. This always resulted in God bringing them into some painful circumstances so that he could get their attention. The bible is full of promises that if they repented and returned to God, he would restore them back to himself. I love that not only does he promise to bring them back to him, but also to restore to them all the years that were wasted too!

So as I continue on in my faith, trying to leave that 'comfortable christianity' behind, addressing the things in my life that need addressing. I will no longer need to be embarrassed of the time wasted and things I’ve let slide.

I was speaking with a friend last week, in a way we were discussing ‘settling for a comfortable life’. She said she was told once about what if when we arrive in heaven, God welcomes us, gives us our reward. But then says “come and I'll show you the reward you could have had, if you had only lived the life I had wanted you too.’ We both stood there quite choked up at the thought. Imagine…..