Sunday Rockin Chair Thoughts Pt 11 November 8 2009

Pt 11 - taken from "The Wall" - writings by Barry Lee Harwood

Everyone has a comfort zone; we need comfort zones. Some people hoard their comfort zone while other people share their zone. Our comfort zones are custom made like a fence around our property and - depending on our upbringing and our perception and perspective of the truth - change daily. From time to time “life” (so called) dictates that we need to leave the comfort of our comfort zones and for most folks that makes life downright uncomfortable. The human response is to fight to stay in our comfort zone! At the root of “the fight” is fear. We know that fear can cause a “fight or flight” response. Of course there are some people who love to come out of their comfort zone – they’ve made an art of coming out of their comfort zone – they’ve made a living by coming out of their comfort zones! Most people, however, protect their comfort zones and fight for their right to stay within the boundaries of their zone. Being forced to come out of our comfort zone causes “the rub” between individuals; at the root of conflict is fear – find the fear and you solve the conflict.

People can become afraid of trying to make their dreams come true because it requires coming out of their comfort zone and that means (here comes that “C” word again) “change” … but if we want something different then we have to do something different. Somehow we have to be excited about change or, we’ll never change and if we don’t change; life and time will pass us by. Excitement and enthusiasm can override fear – faith can move the mountain – our comfort zone can expand and we have more room to walk in love. We have more reason to walk in love. We can also play it safe and stay in our comfort zone; but we’ll wither on the vine.

Routines don’t require as much effort. It’s a whole lot easier to do nothing. It’s much less confusing to stay in a rut – create your own status quo – compromise your ambition and make excuses as to why there’s no hope for the future. It’s so much easier to fail because there’s no work involved; it takes zero effort to do nothing! You can “point the finger of blame” and “change the remote” with the same finger; now that’s talent!

The only way to have something you’ve never had before is to do something you’ve never done before. Fear is the most complex emotion that exists and if we “give in” to it, it can be a powerful weapon against us. Fear is like a flat tire. Fear is having faith in the wrong thing. Fear believes a lie instead of the truth. It’s like a virus on a hard drive; fear will make you hurt your own self. Fear will cause you to “play it safe,” never step out on faith and you’ll miss your dreams altogether. Remember, we have to become oblivious to impossibilities … dreams don’t come to us, we have to stretch to reach them and we have to work to make them come true. The work involved in making dreams come true brings joy to our lives because when you know why you’re here it relieves the pressure. What pressure – the pressure of not knowing the purpose of your visit to this earth!

Right now I’m the best “me” I’ve ever been. Is it because I’m just lucky, or because I have such a great history of success? No. It’s because I have such a profound history of failure! I learned how to succeed by learning how to fail! I learned how to fail by learning “who I am” in Christ Jesus or, more accurately, who I am “without” Christ Jesus. I learned that compassion is the connection; I learned to love; I learned to walk in love - I learned how to use faith and I learned that faith works by love. I also learned that I could re-set the clock and start over when I fail because I’m forgiven and the past stays in the past where it belongs … and is forgotten. I learned that failure is not the end of the story as long as my motives are pure. Sounds like I’ve learned all there is to know; are you kidding me? I’ve learned a lot but I still learn something new every day and, as the saying goes, “it’s what you learn after you know it all that really counts!”

The Bible says to “delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart.” In other words, God will give your heart “the things” your heart should desire; the dreams your heart will “see.” God’s dreams are pregnant with the power to make them come true, just like God’s written and spoken Word.
No doubt, there is a dream in your heart; a desire to fulfill your destiny. God planted dream seeds in your heart before you were born and now’s the time, now’s the place and now’s the hour to scale the wall to freedom and make dreams come true for you and yours. It’s what we learn after we “know it all” that really counts! Where is God in your life … where do you go for comfort …where does your joy come from? It all comes down to a dream … ya’ gotta’ have a dream … ya’ gotta give the gift.