Comfort Zones are places where everything feels or looks good, and provides us what we need at the moment, to our heart's delight. We are convicted that everything in a Comfort Zone is safe and we are protected from whatever makes us feel uncomfortable.
Comfort Zones are where we go when we need to feel warm and fuzzy. We can wrap up in our favorite “blankie”, wear our favorite pair of worn out, no-elastic-in-the-waist sweat pants, or eat our favorite food the way Mama made it - without guilt, or judgement, or embarrassment. Comfort Zones gives to the heart the illusion of safety and shelter.
To serve God however, we must be willing to go to a different place of the heart, one that may not always be as comfortable, but one that assures us of life. Because in reality, Satan offers us a very comfortable zone, filled with temptation, deceit, and sin, and provides everything we think we want – power, money, fame, and glory. It is however, a place that assures us of death.
Satan offered a comfort zone to Jesus at a time when He could have really used some amenities. Jesus was in the wilderness and had not eaten for well over a month. Satan offered comfort food to a hungry Jesus – “if you are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.” (Matthew 4:3) Satan offered kingdoms, and glory, and wealth to the lowly and humble Jesus – “all these things I will give you if you fall down and worship me.” (Matthew 4:9)
In reality, Satan offers all the comforts of Hell; a zone of death where “the wicked will be separated from the just, and cast … into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth.” (Matthew 13:50)
Our comfort zone is often filled with those things we treasure, and stepping out of that zone may leave us feeling vulnerable. But God offers peace, protection, love, joy, and life eternally, where the soul can live in comfort forever.