Confession: I played on what might have been the worst high school soccer team ever. We didn’t score one goal my junior year. We lost one game 0-21. That’s a bad football score.
So it was with great joy that I watched our daughter’s team leave a trail of wins in their wake as they blazed through a spring season undefeated. Girls from the other team sometimes walked away crying. I felt sorry for them – I was one of those girls back in the day.
Our team worked well together. It came easily. The question wasn’t, “Will they win?” But “By how much?” If the other team managed a goal, our girls were disappointed.
That fall, everything changed. They were the same team, with a few new girls. There wasn’t a weak member on the team. But they moved up to playing club level, and since they were the only U-11 team around, they were playing U-12 teams.
They were suddenly out of their comfort zone.
Being Out Of the Comfort Zone
We kept trying to convince them this is a good thing. It was hard to believe when they spent most of their games simply trying to fend off the other team. Their games were so intense I thought about bringing valium. (For me, not them). We told the girls, “You will grow from this. You’ll be better players. This is how it happens.”
Easy wins are fun, but they don’t stretch us.
It’s a good reminder for me, when I’m tempted to say, “easier, please, God.” I know that it is not the easy paths that strengthen me, stretch me, move me closer to where I want to be. To quote from Josh Irby, “In the Discomfort Zone there is insecurity, fear, pain, confusion. But, from the Discomfort Zone come life, hope, change, passion.”
The discomfort zone in our lives is where God is at work. He pushes us there out of His great love for us; He loves us too much to leave us where we were. Our challenge is to be content to stay in that place while He shapes us.
What about you? Are you willing to be in places of discomfort in order to grow?
