On the Other Side of Our Comfort Zone

“Let us be slaves to the Egyptians. It’s better to be a slave in Egypt than a corpse in the wilderness . . . Don’t be afraid. Just stand still and watch the Lord rescue you today . . . Why are you crying out to me? Tell the people to get moving!” (Ex. 14:12–13, 15 NLT).

It was terrifying. The Israelites stood between the deep, wide waters of the Red Sea before them and Pharaoh’s advancing army behind them. What had they gotten themselves into?

They had three options:

Go Back! The Israelites were newly emancipated slaves. Egypt was their comfort zone. Slavery was what they knew. It wasn’t good, it wasn’t easy, but it was familiar. Life apart from slavery was unimaginable. The numerous but fledgling chosen people of God faced their first faith crisis and panicked. They saw the obstacle of the Red Sea instead of the promise of God’s activity. When they panicked, they reverted to their slave mentality. Why did we ever listen to Moses? It would have been better if we had stayed in Egypt. Let’s go back. This is too hard. This is too scary. This is outside our comfort zone.

Stand Still! Moses knew what life away from Egypt looked like. He was perfectly content living in anonymity, tending sheep when the Lord called him out of his comfort zone to become the leader of the Israelites. He had already wrestled with getting to the other side. He saw the Red Sea and the advancing army not as an obstacle, but as an opportunity for God to display his power. He knew enough of God’s faithfulness to entreat the panicked people to at least wait, stand still, and watch the Lord work. (We can all use a Moses in our lives, someone with experience wrestling with their own comfort zones, someone to encourage us.)

 Get Moving! God’s response was, “What on earth are you waiting for? Get moving.” What appeared to the Israelites as an obstacle and to Moses as an opportunity was to God the obvious solution: cross the Red Sea. Getting to the other side of their comfort zone meant the Israelites had to step into the unknown.

We all have an Egypt in our lives, that place we call our comfort zone. It may not be all that good or all that comfortable, but it’s known. If we are honest, we have to admit we also know it is a state of being stuck. Stuck wishing life could be different. Stuck being afraid, angry, disappointed, beaten down, insecure, or complacent. Our comfort zone is almost always a place God calls us out of.

When he does, and we encounter our first disappointment, our first failure, our first attack, how will we respond? Will our Red Sea be an obstacle, an opportunity, or God’s obvious solution?

Waiting on the Lord is never a bad idea. We need to be in a posture of following him. But we almost always have to move in order to do so. Are you prepared to take that first step? When God has called us out of our comfort zone, and we are standing between our Egypt and our Red Sea crying out to him, his answer is often, “Get moving.”

The funny thing is, we almost always know when he tells us to go, but we hope he’ll give us different instructions if we wait long enough. It isn’t easy to step into the unknown of God’s promise. We have to trust that the waters of the Red Sea will not crash down on us. This story gives us assurance. If God calls us into the Red Sea, he will protect us as we cross it.

Denise Roberts is a wife, mom, and joyful soon to be mother-in-law. She loves sharing a good cup of coffee on her back deck with friends and morning snuggles from her 100-lb. chocolate lab, Hudson. She writes with a passion to share how to live holy, where faith and life intersect. Connect with her at www.deniseroberts.org.