Faith over Comfort

How much of our lives are spent avoiding the very things we know are good for us? Better yet, how much energy do we waste contemplating, negotiating, and talking ourselves out of what deep down we already know we should do?

There’s a saying in the Marines: “Enjoy the suck.”
The meaning is simple — discomfort is not your enemy. The hard thing, the inconvenient thing, the thing requiring discipline and courage, is often the very thing making you stronger.

One of my favorite books, The Obstacle Is the Way by Ryan Holiday, explores the Stoic mindset of facing adversity head-on. The obstacle itself becomes the path forward. The thing making you pause, the situation you keep avoiding, may actually be your greatest opportunity for growth.

Most of my life, especially in my younger years, was driven by fear. It’s difficult to admit out loud that some of my biggest regrets came not from failure, but from not trying at all because I was scared. Fear convinced me to stay comfortable. Fear kept me overthinking instead of moving.

But today, I understand spiritual strength differently.

God was never asking me to control every outcome. He was asking me to trust Him while walking through uncertainty. My conscious contact with God no longer lets me rest comfortably when I take the easy route simply to avoid discomfort. What I avoid often eats at me more than the fear of doing it.

Sometimes avoiding the hard thing is really another way of saying:

“God, I know You’ve got me… except in this situation. Here, let me take control back.”

But faith does not grow in comfort. Faith grows when we move forward while still feeling afraid.

“Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.”
— Ephesians 6:11

In AA, we sometimes joke that FEAR has two meanings:

#1 — Fuck Everything And Run
or
#2 — Face Everything And Recover

The second one is the path of growth.

When we face fear with God before us, within us, and behind us, we begin to test the strength of our faith. Courage is not the absence of fear; it is movement despite it.

And even if we stumble, even if we fail trying, the story is not over.

God does not abandon people in the middle of their becoming.

“Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.”
— Hebrews 13:5

Every uncomfortable conversation, every difficult decision, every moment requiring courage may actually be God inviting us into a stronger version of ourselves.

Do what sucks.
There is growth there.
There is freedom there.
And more often than not, God is waiting for you on the other side of it.

Prayer:
Lord, help me stop running from the things that strengthen me. Give me courage to trust You in uncomfortable places and faith to move forward even when fear is present. Remind me that You do not forsake me in difficulty, but walk with me through it. Amen.