"Living your greatness or living your comfort?" by Stephanie Stovall (CatholicMom.com) "Jesus Calls the Apostles" by Domenico Ghirlandaio (1481) via Mary's Rosaries Public Domain Images, PD.

“We were made for greatness, not for comfort.” Pope Benedict XVI

Take a moment and really read those words.

Think about your life and that thing God has been asking of you.

That thing that keeps popping up in your heart . . . maybe mostly during your prayer time, or while at Mass or a Bible study.

Is it a hard thing He is asking you to do? Does it make you a little queasy?

 

“Faith is one foot on the ground, one foot in the air, and a queasy feeling in the stomach.” ― Mother Angelica, EWTN Foundress

Let’s go to our Blessed Mother at the Annunciation.

I wonder, hours after that conversation, was she jumping up and down in excitement for what the angel had just told her?

Did she rush to post on her Facebook status how pumped she was about the gigantic, life-changing task ahead of her?

 

We know she was humbled and ready to go.

Didn’t matter what she wanted, she was on earth to do God’s will and God’s will alone.

No matter how scary . . . or uncomfortable.

 

These days we Christians are a bit nutty with our theology of how God works.

Everyone wants to “feel good” about what God calls them to do.

And, if suffering is a part of anything at all, well, it must not be God’s will for me!

 

We are wrong. So, so wrong.

[tweet "God never promised us easy. Exactly the opposite was promised, actually."]

God never promised us easy. Exactly the opposite was promised, actually.

Yet, whenever we are discerning a potential call from Above, do our own feelings about it all cloud the Truth of what is being asked of us?

 

I know I’m guilty of this.

 

That’s a great idea God, but . . . I don’t have the money for it, that’s totally out of my comfort zone, I don’t have the time right now, I don’t have it in me but so and so - they would be great at it- call them! . . . and the list goes on and on.

 

Now, what if there is potential danger within what you are being called to?

Let’s say, for example, ohhhh . . . death.

 

Well, what’s the worst thing that could happen if you decide to take that trip to Target? You need mascara, milk and maybe a new shirt (the kids have been awful lately; you deserve it).

You could get in a wreck and die. Dramatic, yes, but true.

Do you still decide to take that trip? Yup.

 

Simply going to the scriptures we see time and time again God calling the simple to huge tasks.

Tasks that got them in a lot of trouble and were no fun.

But these people that said yes. These saints, knowing the negatives, said yes anyway.

They knew God didn’t put them on earth for warm fuzzies and lots a fun.

He gave them a mission, and they were going to get it done no matter the cost.

 

Jesus on Good Friday.

Meant for greatness, not for comfort.

 

So, at the end of this Lenten season, make it a goal to open your heart and mind a little more to that crazy thing God is calling you to do.

Your reward will be great and wide for that little “yes.”

The reward of knowing you are working hand in hand with Jesus in this life is the greatest feeling of all.

 

Let your “yes” to God bring you your warm and fuzzies.

 

Copyright 2017 Stephanie Stovall