Week Seventeen: Patience. Gift of Discomfort

Me: “Life is pretty good!”

Also, me: “More! More! More!”

A friend recently articulated well my journey with life at times. When life is going well, I want more but this can keep me from living in the flow of God’s desires for me. God always wants good but good doesn’t always mean easy. In our undisciplined, comfort-seeking culture, it’s easy to get lulled into a false sense of reality. As I’ve matured both in life as well as spiritually, I realize that “no pain, no gain,” doesn’t just apply to my time in the gym. If I want to get better at something or achieve a difficult goal, it usually requires me moving out of my comfort zone.  It also requires moving into a space of suffering, maybe a little, or a lot. 

So much of my time growing up was uncomfortable and so discomfort is a feeling that is hard for me to feel. God is allowing me to see the ways I’ve lived life to avoid discomfort.  Rather than running from the pain, I’m learning to patiently lean into the feelings and invite God into the space.  Trusting that God has the better plan than what I understand and that I’m releasing the control. Loving myself with faith and allowing myself the mercy that God has already given me.  

The life of a Christian is nothing but a perpetual struggle against self; there is no flowering of the soul to the beauty of its perfection except at the price of pain.

St. Padre Pio

Today, I’m praying for more mercy and a heart full of God’s love.