Get comfortable being uncomfortable!

These are the words that Jillian Michaels is shouting at me as I am in a downward facing dog, abs tight, butt clinched, gasping for my next breath.

Jillian Michaels is most famously known for her 'SUCK IT UP' mentality on The Biggest Loser. She is one of those people who you either love or you hate. I am one that thinks she is somewhat annoying, but I am intrigued by her personality, so I purchased her Yoga Meltdown DVD while I was home for Christmas!

I have been trying this P90X program and one of the sessions calls for yoga. It is 90 full minutes of yoga! I am not one that can do many things for 90 full minutes, unless it is eating ice cream or watching a movie, so I set out to find something more my style. It is not that I am a yoga fanatic, quite the opposite, I am a yoga wanna-be! I have always been jealous of those people who can wrap themselves in a pretzel and still look graceful like they are sitting down for tea! The reason why I like this version of Yoga is that is it only 30 minutes long and quite simply that Jillian motivates me, "Get comfortable being uncomfortable!" I don't care how limber you are, you cannot tell me that those people who are practicing yoga and doing a back bend at 90 degrees are comfortable. You wanna know the difference between them and me? They have more practice at it!

Like anything in life, you are only uncomfortable in life for a season! The more you try that one thing, the more comfortable you become. If you only do it once, then YEAH, you are going to be uncomfortable!

The last four years for me have made me somewhat of a veteran in the area of uncomfortable-ness! I have moved to two new countries not knowing a soul prior to the move, I have jumped out of an airplane ON PURPOSE, I have gotten a cool nose stud to the price of 15 painful minutes, I have navigated my way around cities where I don't know the language and on those days when I just think I can't take any more UNCOMFORTABLE-NESS, I remember, get up and do it again and it will become comfortable!

Before I break my arm by patting myself on the back in this area, I need to be honest and admit that there is one area of my life that I have been comfortable with for way too long - my relationship with God!

I am reading a book by Francis Chan called Crazy Love. I was struck/convicted by this the other day. "Lukewarm people do not live by faith; their lives are structured so they never have to. They don't have to trust God if something unexpected happens - they have their savings account. They don't need God to help them - they have their retirement in place. They don't genuinely seek out what life God would have them live - they have life figured out and mapped out. They don't depend on God on a daily basis - their refrigerators are full and for the most part, they are in good health. The truth is, their lives wouldn't look much different if they suddenly stopped believing in God."

OUCH. This one hit home for me. For as much as I like to profess I am comfortable being UNcomfortable, this is a major flaw of mine. I fear that I live my life as a lukewarm Christian. I blame it on being a control freak and that is why I need to have everything in order, but the truth of the matter is, how much do I really trust God with my life? Do I trust him with my future mate, do I trust him with my future plans?

I am inspired by my yoga DVD and the advice from Jillian, but am I able/willing to apply this to all areas of my life? I want to get comfortable being uncomfortable with my walk with God. I want to welcome challenge and welcome those times where I have no other choice but to trust him.

Breathe deep and bring on more of the discomfort!