...comfortable?

“Are you sitting comfortably? Then I’ll begin”

…is a phrase that is familiar to many of us from childhood. It signalled the beginning of a children’s story-time radio programme, where the inference is for the child to sit quietly, focus the mind and hear/listen & absorb the story being told.

The unspoken rules being that if you were not sitting awaiting the narration, the story would not be told.  Maybe worse, that the story would be paused if the ‘rules’ were broken. 

For me, I clearly remember meeting the ‘required’ conditions as a child – either listening to Enid Blyton tales read by my Dad or perhaps the Teacher reading as I sat cross legged at primary school. I loved and still love listening to stories being narrated. I can sit comfortably and immerse myself into the fantasy world I hear and visualise the story in my mind.

But what if I was sat uncomfortably? Would I be distracted and not hear the story or would I need to increase my determination & desire to hear?

Perhaps for me today’s equivalent is having a stand up meeting? I know the information is important, that I am required to listen and so being uncomfortable makes me concentrate, focus and hear.

So, I wonder how uncomfortable I am willing to be to hear God?

Much of the Bible makes for uncomfortable, paradoxical reading, so I need to desire to hear what it says to me. Alongside hearing that God loves me, the Bible also confronts me with the fact that I am a sinner and do not and almost certainly will not live up to the desires He has for me – well not in this life.

But it’s this uncomfortable-ness that I need, to give me the desire to focus and hear what God has to say and wants for my life.

This completely contradicts what society says is good for us. Being comfortable in terms of wealth and relationships is what we all aspire to…isn’t it? However within this it becomes easy to lose focus on God.

Even when we know something is wrong or needs changing in our life, our relative comfortable-ness can be difficult to address. How often do we choose to step out of our comfort zones, in any aspect life? And what happens when we are faced with God asking us to make a change and to step out of our boundaries? Do we listen or would we prefer to simply remain comfortable?

Next time I read the bible or pray I am going to get uncomfortable either in my physical environment or by visualising the same. It will be interesting to see whether this state enables me to focus much in the same way as fasting can do.

So if you’re sitting comfortably… maybe God won’t begin and your life story will remain on pause :;