My comfy couch

Overload. That is how I feel right now. I work in a Special Needs classroom. The kids need attention all day long. They don't know what personal space is and my ear was physically hurting when I left work today because of the nonstop chatter that seems to come with the attention- seeking.

I decided to come to a little coffee place after work to "download". Well, that obviously was not a great idea today - with the senior citizen sitting two feet away with his laptop - he feels pretty young at heart as his 80's music blares from his little laptop. Of course, me - wanting the comfy seat in the place, decided to sit in the only area with cushioned chairs. This happens to be directly under the nonstop News Network that seems to be loud enough for people a few feet away to be able to keep up on the events of the world.

So much for my quiet download time.

As I walked up to ask the nice teenager who is running the coffee shop to please mute the tv...I realized that the music is actually coming from the ceiling above the tv! It really isn't the hip gentleman I had already accused of blaring his music. It is just me - stubborn little me, who does not want to move from my soft and comfy couch. It is my own fault that I am being barraged by bad music and news releases.

Do you think we do that in other areas too? I think I do this all too often. I blame others for my mistakes. I point fingers and complain about my life - but, in reality, I really don't want to change. I don't want to move. I would rather blame others for my headaches than blame myself. I am too comfortable with were I am to actually DO something about it. Why would I want to change my life when I can sit on my squishy couch and complain to everyone around me about all of my situations and woes in life? I can blame those around for causing loud noise and unwanted circumstances. I would never actually take time to look at my situation and get up to move - to reach out to God and ask for help.

Why does this seem like such a difficult thing at times? Why would we rather complain about our life we are stuck with than to ask God if there is something different he has in plan for us?  I think we would rather be comfortable than challenged. We would rather be familiar with our suffering than to be pushed out into a new world to begin a new life. We could pray for God to place a dream into us, a new challenge. But why would we take time to pray for God to put a dream in our life - something amazing we could do for him - if we really don't want to get off the comfy couch?

I have prayed and followed God in the past. I have walked down the path of new and exciting events. I loved the joy I felt as I followed God's plan. Now I see a new plan being unfolded before me. Something I have been praying and asking God for. Now, I am clinging to my couch. I am afraid to stand up and take the first step - how will I ever get back to my comfy life if I follow God's lead? I know in my heart that if I choose to follow God, that I will have a peace and joy inside even through the difficult times. It is just getting up - leaving my couch, my safety, my life as I know it - no matter how unhappy I can feel as I sit on the cushions - to walk into a new life that I can't see yet. It is scary to follow God into the unknown. It is hard to see what is next when it has not been revealed yet. This is what faith really is.

In one of my Bibles, there is a definition of faith that I love and have kept with me for many years. It says this: Faith means abandoning all trust in our own resources, abilities and reasoning - the things we see. It means relying instead on the things we can not see - God's promises, provisions and His concern for us. An inner attitude alone does not define faith, though for faith to be present, action is required. Faith proves itself by its obedience to the Lord. 

Faith is getting up off the couch...