The Comfort Zone of Fear

Margaret Sherwood says, “We must search out excellence, in different times and different places, a constantly enlarging intellectual and spiritual apprehension, we shall be constantly revising our idea concerning that which is excellent.”

You’ve probably heard a phrase related to the fact that nothing spectacular happens in the comfort zone. I think this quote from Margaret Sherwood really challenges us to reconsider what it means to pursue excellence and walk into that best of what God wants for us, without the grip of fear holding us back. Fear finds safety in our comfort zone. We all have certain limits beyond which we will not venture. We feel uncomfortable with anything new and unknown, especially if it seems difficult. Fear is always lurking at the back of our minds, stopping us from achieving excellence. Fear does more to dampen our destiny than we can ever realize, because it drives us away from excellence and instead forces us into mediocrity. This makes you overly anxious about the future and overly apprehensive to launch into our destiny. All this is a result of the self-destruction fear encourages. Fear also allows doubt and uncertainty to distract us from our current assignment and blinds us from celebrating the blessings that are right in front of us. It causes us to prematurely produce a less than average result that could have been excellent in its proper time.

There’s a chance our fear may cause us to self-destruct. Our behaviors are habitual. The craftiness of fear can lead to self-sabotage that can block us from pursuing excellence. Our fear can be an attempt to safeguard ourselves from the possibility of failure. Whether disorganization, procrastination or indecision, these behaviors immobilize us from applying excellence to our endeavors. Self-destructive habits based on fear are often rooted in our feelings of poor self-worth. At times, we don’t feel like we deserve the full experience of excellence. Other times we believe we do deserve to dwell in excellence, but only as long as it doesn’t intimidate or exceed the accomplishments of those in our circle.

When we decide to let go of fear, we get to show folks how great God is. We get to show them what’s possible when we serve God, submit to God, and trust God. We get to show others the beauty in surrendering our weaknesses, flaws and faults in exchange for the polish of excellence. Beyond fear, our excellence becomes our ministry, but it cannot take hold if we live in the comfort zone.

Answer these questions and reflect on your answers:

What is your comfort zone at the moment? And is fear keeping you there?

When you face fear, what helps you turn that fear over to the Lord?

What steps are you taking to achieve excellence?

Affirm and declare these statements:

I will not allow fear to keep me in my comfort zone.

I have nothing to be afraid of.

I will pursue excellence with no fear.

Pray in petition to God to pursue His will and way.