APPRECIATING PEOPLE

Appreciating someone is a very small gesture from our side and takes just a few moments of our time. But it impacts the person receiving it in a big way. If you don’t believe me, just appreciate someone and watch the other person come alive and glow at the words of your appreciation. That would indeed be a beautiful sight.

 I have been both at the receiving end and the giving end of appreciation.

Receiving appreciation is like a tonic. I feel wonderful and highly motivated to find ways to improve my performance. That’s why wise bosses appreciate and value their employees.

And when I appreciate other people, I feel really blessed that I had made a difference to someone’s day by what I had said. Moreover sincere appreciation encourages people to go the extra mile and give their best; and as I bless other people with  my words, it also lifts up my spirits and makes me feel great.

So appreciating people has dual advantage- you are being a blessing and also being blessed in return.

So often, at home and at our workplace we focus on things that were not done properly and tearing down the person responsible. We end up making a big noise criticizing people, who in turn will respond unfavorably and lose motivation to go the extra mile.

In the process, you become miserable, the other person is hurt and discouraged and your entire day is ruined with nothing positive achieved.

The Bible encourages us to use speech carefully.

Ephesians 4:29 tells us

Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.

and

Proverbs 25:11

A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in a setting of silver

But everything will not always be right as rain!

So what should we do if someone does wrong and we have to correct him/her??  People face these situations very often.

Correction can always be done in love. Always remember, a  person cannot do everything wrong. There must be something which he/she does right. You probably need to look hard and try to find that out; then appreciate them for that.

How much easier it then becomes to address what they may have done wrong and find the solution to correct it.’

I would like to conclude with a quote-

Appreciation can make a day, even change a life. Your willingness to put it into words is all that is necessary.
– Margaret Cousins

POWER OF ENVISIONING

It is said that a picture is worth a thousand words. The mind is more easily influenced by pictures than words.

One of the possible practical reasons that Jesus used parables in his ministry is that parables teach a concept or idea by using word pictures. By using word pictures rather than a long essay, the essence of the message is not as easily lost over a period of time. Two thousand years later, even after tremendous technological advances  when we read the parables, we can still visualize the pictures and hence understand his message easily. 

To illustrate let’s look at Matthew 13:31-32

The Parable of the Mustard Seed

He told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his field. 32 Though it is the smallest of all seeds, yet when it grows, it is the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds come and perch in its branches.”
The plant referred to here is generally considered to be black mustard, a large annual plant up to 9 feet tall,but growing from a very tiny seed. 

So the picture painted here is suggestive of the growth of the kingdom of God. Starting small and then gradually growing to reach the entire world.

 Jesus was extremely good at drawing people’s attention by the pictures and visions he gave them. Everywhere he went, he inspired the imaginations of people such that the old and the young went without food just to hear him talk.

 Proverbs 29:18 helps us grasp the importance of vision. It says that without a vision the people perish.

 and that is why in addition to affirmations, having a picture of what you want to be or achieve is so important. Hence we need to practice a combination of what I call- right affirmations and right Picture.

Now let’s look at what happens when we use a wrong combination.

Right   Affirmations No pictures,

I can still remember as a child when people used to  ask me, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” I would always answer “a doctor” without really knowing what it was all about. I simply could not visualize myself as a doctor; It was not my dream, it was in fact my parent’s dream for me. So while I was declaring that I am going to be a doctor; there was no picture in my mind.

 If you notice, many children face the same situation nowadays, where children are expected to achieve their parent’s dream for them. Parents may be doing it with the best of intentions; but unfortunately results in such cases are almost always counter productive.

 Point: We cannot achieve anything that we cannot visualize or picture it in our minds. We cannot achieve what someone else has visualized for us.  

Pastor may have a vision for the church, but if we do not share his vision, we will not be able to run with him. Our boss may have a vision for his company, but if the employees cannot visualize it, then nothing is achieved.

 Wrong affirmation Wrong picture

There was this lady whose pet topic for conversation was sickness. She had grown up watching people around her falling sick and this picture of sickness was so deeply embedded in her psyche that sickness was the centre of her existence. Additionally she used to hoard her money, declaring that it would be of help to her in the event of falling sick in her old age. True to her imagination and declaration, she fell very ill, for a number of years in her old age and large amounts of the money that she had hoarded, went in paying for medicines, doctor’s fees, hospital charges, specialized care etc.

Point:

Using the combination of wrong pictures and wrong affirmations is disastrous since whatever we visualize in our mind, whether good or bad, will definitely come to pass, if we concentrate on it  long and hard enough.

 Right Affirmations, wrong picture

 Let me illustrate this. Suppose you want to walk across a rope bridge over a deep ravine. It appears quite flimsy. You may be declaring with your mouth- “Yes, I am going to get across. Jesus is with me” But the picture in your mind is not very encouraging- the picture shows you  losing your footing and falling, or slipping or feeling giddy  or whatever. When you have a picture like that, forget walking across the bridge, you’ll never even dare to step on it.

 Point:

Even if you are using the right affirmations to achieve something, but the picture in your mind is contradictory to what u r affirming, possibility is high that you’ll never achieve it.

Ideally, visualizing your future should be very much the same as remembering your past. However it is not so; while recalling past incidents may be as simple as ABC, visualizing something in the future requires a lot of effort, time and practice. When we focus on the past , most of us tend to visualize areas of lack in our life. As we do this continuously, day in and day out, for months , the lack in our life gets more and more pronounced.

Instead of this,  we need to purposely visualize what we want to achieve in the future – continuously, day in and day out,  – then we will be able to achieve whatever we are focusing on  – love, joy, satisfying relations, job satisfaction, health, creativity, inner peace, happiness.

The question was once asked of a highly successful businessman, “How have you done so much in your lifetime?”

He replied, “I grow by dreams. I have turned my mind loose to imagine what I wanted to do. Then I have gone to bed and thought about my dreams. In the night I dreamt about my dreams. And when I awoke in the morning, I saw the way to make my dreams real. While other people were saying, ‘You can’t do that, it is impossible,’ I was well on my way to achieving what I wanted.” As Woodrow Wilson, 28th President of the U.S., said: “We grow great by dreams. All big men are dreamers.”

 So the bottom line is, see yourself healthy in your own mind. See yourself happy, see yourself as a friendly person, being loved, loving, creative, successful

 As someone said- Do not let anyone steal your dreams, or try to tell you they are too impossible.

“Sing your songs, and dream your dreams, hope your hope and pray your prayer.”

Your life is limited to your vision. If you want to change your life, you must change your vision of your life.

LESSONS FROM THE PALM TREE

The Bible tells us in Psalm 92:12- The righteous shall flourish like a palm tree.

Have you wondered why God compares the righteous to a palm tree?? Why a palm tree??

Let me give you 4 points of comparison-

1.     A Blessing to the people:

The palm tree refers to the date palm growing in the desert regions. It leads a very long and useful life and is a huge blessing to the people living in these desert regions. It is what you would call, A GIVING TREE. In fact, there is not a single part of it that is not of use to the people living in these regions. The encyclopedia Britannica lists the following uses of the date palm-

The trunk gives us timber, midrib of the leaves are used to make crates and furniture, leaflets are used to make baskets, leaf is used a fuel, fruit stalks are used to make ropes, fibers for cordage and packing materials, seeds are ground and fed to cattle, fruits give syrup, vinegar, alcohol, wine  and honey. Last but not the least, the fruits form the diet of people living in Arabia and Persia. It is then, not surprising at all that the Lord compares us to the palm tree and not other trees like the mango tree or the teak or the oak as, individually, they do not have such myriad uses as the date palm.

Lesson 1:

The palm tree then teaches us to be a giving people, giving not only of one or two areas of our life but giving in every possible way; giving of our time, our knowledge, our finances, our resources and our energy. To be a blessing to people around us!

2.     Thriving with available resources

The palm tree grows in sandy soil of the tropical and semi tropical regions. Sandy soil is a type of soil which has the least amount of resources. Less water, less salts, less fertility, less nourishment. Nevertheless the date palm grows and flourishes in this soil, in fact towering majestically over the other desert plants growing around it. Lack of fertile soil stunts the growth of most desert plants but not the date palm. This is made of sterner stuff.

 Lesson 2:

Similarly no matter where we are planted (good soil, average soil, not so good soil), God gives us the grace not just to grow anyhow,  but to thrive and flourish majestically like the palm tree.

3.      Steadfastness

The date palm is impervious to the changing climatic conditions and wind velocities of the desert regions where it grows. It has to grow in extreme conditions- blazing heat and freezing cold, sand storms and scanty rains. Yet it grows on steadfastly through all these different conditions, into a stately and majestic tree.

Lesson 3:

So, much as we dislike and fear difficult situations in our life, we must keep our focus on this particular trait of the date palm and move forward. God will surely see us through all difficult situations. Gods plan for us is not to make us a mediocre people but to make us an excellent people; excelling even when we face adverse situations.

  4.      Unchanging nature

The palm tree is perennially green throughout the year. Be it summer, spring, autumn or winter it never changes. Life flows through it continuously.

Lesson 4:

We have to be constant and unchanging ourselves. Not upbeat one day and down in the dumps another day. Always be a source of encouragement to the people around us.

Just to recap once again, God gives us grace to thrive with available resources, be steadfast and calm in difficult situations, unchanging through all seasons and to be a blessing to people around us.

STRESS IS IN THE MIND

THE verse from the Bible, “As a man thinketh in his heart so is he,” not only embraces the whole of a our being, but is so comprehensive as to reach out to every condition and circumstance of our life. A man is literally what he thinks, his character being the complete sum of all his thoughts.

As the plant springs from, and could not be without, the seed, so every act of a man springs from the hidden seeds of thought, and could not have appeared without them. This applies equally to those acts called “spontaneous” and “unpremeditated” as to those, which are deliberately executed. These words were written by James Allan.

The mind is the starting point of everything. It leads us to our destiny. Today I want to talk about the topic –“Stress/ Fear is in the mind”, about the causes of stress and tools for handling stress.

 Causes of stress

Now when we enter a situation, we don’t just enter it. We don’t travel light. We bring along with us considerable baggage, every experience and thought that has been stored, both knowingly and unknowingly, in the mind. These thoughts and experiences are so strongly embedded in our psyche that over a period of time they become belief systems. And we look at the world and at situations in our life through these belief systems or filters as they are commonly called. These filters determine how we perceive a situation.

Let me give you an example. A long time ago, I suffered from fear of social rejection. I hated mingling with people. I used to fear striking up conversations with people except very close friends or family. I could not make friends easily. As far as possible, I would try to melt into the background everywhere.

These fears prevented me from taking part in events in my school and college, my fear was due to a belief system in my mind which said “I am ugly. Nobody likes me. People don’t like to talk with me. People will make fun of my appearance” and so on and so forth.

Now during my teenage years, I was indeed very plain looking, short, fat and ugly, with little or no poise and totally ungraceful and clumsy.

Beliefs were set up in my mind due to remarks passed by people about my looks /personality.

My best friend was just the opposite. She seemed to thrive in front of an audience. She loved being the centre of attraction. She was a total extrovert. Her belief system probably told her “I look good, People enjoy my conversations, and everyone loves me, etc.”

Same situation –Social Interaction– Caused stress in one person while not affecting the other one at all.

Similarly, a thief will become highly stressed when he spots a policeman, His belief formed from past experiences tells him that he’ll get into trouble if he is caught by a policeman, irrelevant of the fact  whether he has done something wrong at that point of time  or not. So his first reaction is to flee. However you and I will not be stressed if we come across a policeman since our belief system tells us just the opposite thing – “Policemen do not cause trouble; they protect.”

Same situation – Face to face with Authority– Caused stress in one person while not affecting the other one at all.

People experience so many different types of fear- Fear of social rejection, fear of dark, fear of pain, fear of falling ill, fear of loneliness, fear of staying alone, fear of failure, fear of falling down etc. The list is endless. However what we need to know is that behind each fear is a wrong belief system.

It is important to understand that a situation per se is not stressful; it’s only the precipitating factor. It’s not social interaction which is stressful, but our belief systems, which creates stress. Due to the fact that different people view the same situation through a different set of beliefs, they respond differently in the same situation,

That explains why a certain situation may stress out one person whereas it may not affect another person all.

Belief systems are believed to be formed even before we are born. We start learning and experiencing things right from our mother’s womb and from then on it is a constant learning process. Some beliefs come from parents, some are drilled into us in school by teachers, some come from friends, peers, bosses  etc. some belief systems are even inherited from our parents.

Tools for handling stress: There are 4 tools for handling stress: Replace, Renew, Refuse and Refill

Replace the wrong belief: In order to avoid getting stressed by situations, we need to tackle the root because; we need to identify situations that stress us out, track the belief that is causing the stress and replace that belief with a new one. Remember, belief systems have been learned by us during the course of our life and what has been learned can surely be unlearned.

Stress is in our minds.  No matter whatever you are stressed about, remember there is someone else facing the same situation and they are not stressed.

Renew your mind daily:  Romans 12:2 tells us  “And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God’. Refresh and renew your mind with prayer and meditating on the word of God. As a practice I pray the Mind prayer which Pastor has taught us daily in the morning. It keeps my mind refreshed and keeps me going throughout the day.

Refuse to stack rubbish in your mind: The world is full of people who run around like garbage trucks and try to offload their garbage onto other people. But it is upto us to decide whether to accept or reject the garbage thrown at us. Our mind is not a garbage dump to stack rubbish. The moment someone, no matter who- your parents/friends/teachers, speaks a negative word over you, reject it and release it immediately in the name of Jesus. Don’t allow it fester in your mind and become a belief.

Refill your mind with positive beliefs: During your free time fill your mind with positive beliefs-

I look good, I am unique, I am beautiful, I know my subject, I can speak well on it, I enjoy speaking in public, I can do my job well,  I am in good health, I have everything I need. I will prosper; I am God’s favourite- the apple of his eye. So even if a negative word gets across to you, your mind will hesitate to accept that since there is already a lot of positive belief systems set up in your mind.

Remember, it is easier to establish a positive belief than replace a negative belief with a positive one.

Be alert, use these tools daily and next time when you are facing a situation which is unnerving you   and you are tempted to say “I am stressed” don’t speak it, change the sentence to “I am too blessed to be stressed”

WHAT IS YOUR MIND GROUP??

Someone wrote, “Watch your thoughts- they become words; Watch your words- they become actions; Watch your actions- they become habits; Watch your habits- they become character; Watch your character- It becomes your destiny.”

How true!!!! Everything starts with your thoughts!

Have you noticed that when you think of something, your mind immediately begins a search to prove you right ??

For example: You just have to think , “I am stupid”; your mind immediately starts a search operation, digging in the deep recesses and pulls out a comprehensive list of  all the stupid things you have ever done in your lifetime. Now that is proof enough  to keep believing that you are indeed stupid and you go around declaring it with your mouth. Very soon you will even start acting stupid!!!

Conversely if you think,” I am smart”; your mind will bring to your remembrance all your past winning moments; you start declaring “I am a winner” and start behaving like one.

Both positive and negative thoughts are stored in our subconscious mind. While we cannot erase out all the negative thoughts/ experiences/memories, we can definitely choose which experience or thought, to bring to recall, when required.

Now take the example of what David chose to recall prior to facing the giant Goliath (1 Samuel 17:34-37)

Notice how his past experience of rescuing his lamb out of the clutches of a lion and a bear, was converted to a positive affirmation, which turned true.

God’s past faithfulness should assure us of his faithfulness in the future too. That was the principle that David used and that is what we can use too.

Sadly negative thinking appears to be more prevalent than positive thinking. For most of us positive thinking requires a lot of effort whereas negative thinking comes easily, uninvited.

Negative thoughts leads to negative affirmations- (I can’t, I won’t, I am not able to), whereas positive thoughts leads to positive affirmations (I can, I will, I am able to)

Both are equally powerful and capable of determining the course of our life.

It is something like this- each time you declare a negative affirmation, you take the wrong fork on the road of life and ultimately end up somewhere where you are not supposed to be.

I want to encourage you- Practice speaking positive affirmations everyday. Very soon it will become a part of you. Once this happens, you will be amazed like I am, at how carelessly people use their tongue. You will be even more amazed that sooner or later, they are trapped in the maze of their negative words they live exactly the same terrible things that they speak of themselves- poverty, sickness, fear, failure, disappointment etc.

The Bible is full of promises that can be converted to positive affirmations;

• I am at peace (John 14: 27)
• I have an abundant life (John 10: 10)
• I have boundless energy (Isaiah 40: 31)
• I am whole (Colossians 2: 9,10)
• I am an achiever (Philippians 4: 13)

Besides these, I use some affirmations daily like-

• I feel good.
• I am healthy.
• I like what I eat (when I am dieting and eating only raw vegetables).
• I am not dependent on anyone else but God for my daily needs.
• I am fruitful
• I will remain active till the end of my days
• I will have perfect use of my mental and physical faculties all the days of my life.

I want to encourage each and every one of you- Take some time out of your busy schedules. Repeat positive affirmations over your life and you will see your life changing for the better!!!

Powerful Quote:

“As a single footstep will not make a path on the earth, so a single thought will not make a pathway in the mind. To make a deep physical path, we walk again and again. To make a deep mental path, we must think over and over the kind of thoughts we wish to dominate our lives.”

— Henry David Thoreau, Author, Poet, and Philosopher

A JOURNEY CALLED HAPPINESS

Once upon a time, there lived a stone in a garden. All the pretty flowers in the garden were his companions. But instead of being happy, he grumbled from morning till night, “I’m so fed up of living here, in the company of these silly flowers. This life is so dull and uninteresting. I want to live on the road, where all the fun and excitement is!!!”

On hearing this, the flowers felt very sad.

One day a young lad came to play in the garden and he absent mindedly began kicking the stone about. Finally the stone landed on the roadside. The stone was joyful and said, “Hurray, I’m off to see the world. Bye, Bye you silly flowers!!!”

Very soon, he found himself near a pile of black fierce looking stones. He greeted them, “Hello, good morning! I’m so thrilled to be here. I am your new neighbor. My name is ……..”

One grumpy stone interrupted him, “Shut up, you idiot! I’m having a splitting headache, listening to all these traffic sounds. I’m in no mood to listen to your stupid talk.”

The stone felt hurt and kept quiet. He looked around for someone else to talk to. No one looked as if they were interested to speak with him.

Suddenly he screamed, “Oh, Oh!! What was that hard thing that went over me?”

The other black stones mockingly said, “Oh that was just a cart. You’ll get used to them after several hundreds go over you.” The stone was close to tears.

Again he cried out, “Oh, Oh I’m getting choked. What was that?”

The others laughed and replied, “Smoke. You mustn’t feel upset; very soon you will become as black and ugly as we are.

The stone burst out crying, “This is terrible, this is not what I expected. I cannot bear this.”

The whole night, the stone was kept busy dodging vehicles and wiping soot from his eyes. He could not sleep at all. By morning he was a nervous wreck. The thought of another day on the road really scared him.

But just then, along came the same boy who had earlier kicked him and believe it or not, he kicked the little stone right back into the same garden. His friends, the flowers were overjoyed to have him back and bobbed up and down in great excitement.

The stone said, “How happy I am, to be back with you! Never again will I wish to go back to the main street. Forgive me for treating you so shabbily in the past. I am happy to be here in your company!”

This story teaches us one important lesson i.e. to learn to be happy where God has placed us!

Do you find your workplace boring?? Your work tedious?? Do you find your boss impossible? Do you face a lot of problems at home? Do you find your spouse boring? Your family life dull?  Are you looking for a dramatic change in your life??

Always remember, the circumstances, the people around us, our surroundings, everything has been put into our lives by God and he expects us to be happy where he has placed us.

He has done it in his infinite wisdom; we cannot fathom His reasons, with our finite intelligence; so it is best that we do not dwell on them.

If we search for happiness and fulfillment elsewhere, outside of God’s will, it may spell disaster for us, as it did for the stone.

If we are unhappy in the place that God has placed us, chances are that we would be unhappy elsewhere too.

To be happy or not is our decision.  The little stone had pre decided in his mind that he would not be happy as long as he was in the garden. He was waiting for a change in his circumstances so that he could be happy.

Today, are we waiting for a change in job, family, boss, colleagues, financial status, or anything else so that we can be happy?? Or are we content where God has placed us? We need to appreciate the fact that one more day to live, on the face of this earth is a gift from God! Every moment is precious!  Every minute is priceless!!! Every second is invaluable. The clock is ticking!!! Stop waiting………smile——–laugh—–Rejoice……Be happy!!!!

And do remember this lovely quote always by Francis Kong

Stop waiting
-until your car or home is paid off
-until you get a new car or home
-until your kids leave the house
-until you go back to school
-until you finish school
-until you lose 10 lbs.
-until you gain 10 lbs.
-until you get married
-until you have kids
-until summer
-until December
-until you die

Happiness is a journey, not a destination.

GETTING OUT OF COMFORT ZONES

Today I want to share something on Comfort zones and why we need to get out of them.

 Simply put, ‘comfort zone’ is a state of existence in which the mind sets limits/ boundaries to what one can or cannot do. In other words mind limits body.

 

Some examples of comfort zones are sleeping on the same side of the bed, shopping at the same grocery store, taking the same route home while traveling etc – i.e. adherence to a set routine and not wanting to try something new.

 When we learn new skills, new sports, new languages, doing something new we are moving out of our comfort zone into the stretch zone.

 Have you noticed how bosses have a habit of pushing you out of your comfort zones as soon as you seem to be settling down nicely into a routine?

 Have you noticed that throughout the Bible, in every book you read, God also seems to specifically move people OUT of their comfort zones into unknown zones? And there were people who obeyed his call and were blessed.

Nehemiah

Nehemiah was a displaced Jew living a thousand miles from Jerusalem in what’s known today as Persia, or Iran. He had risen to prominence as the cupbearer to the king of Persia, and he lived a comfortable life in the king’s palace. He slept on satin sheets and down pillows.

Yet one day God told him to go back to Jerusalem to rebuild the wall. It must have cost him a lot to get out of his comfort zone .He could have continued to live in luxury in Persia, but Nehemiah went a thousand miles away…to Jerusalem.

 Matthew 14:29,

Peter must have wondered if it really was Jesus walking on water or just his imagination working overtime.  Jesus called to him: Come.  He was in his comfort zone, inside the boat.  It must have taken a lot of courage to take that first step out of the boat in the middle of the wind and waves.  But when he did, it was magic, Peter walked on water!  The Bible says,

And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus.

 (Gen 12:1, 2) 

 “Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will shew thee: And I will make thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: And Abram left his comfort zone ventured forth into unknown territories.

 Exodus 4: when God commissions Moses to lead the Israelites out of Egypt, notice what

Moses says to God in Exodus 4:10,

“Pardon your servant, Lord. I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant. I am slow of speech and tongue.”

 And what an answer he got for his question!!!!!

Exodus 4: 11 “Who gave human being their mouths? Who makes them deaf or mute? Who gives them sight or makes them blind? Is it not I, the Lord?  Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say.”

 Nehemiah walked out of his comfort zone into a place where he was a blessing to the people around him.

 Peter walked out of his comfort zone into a place where he experienced magic, a miracle.

 Abram walked out of his comfort zone into a zone of personal growth and abundant blessings.

Moses walked out of his comfort zone into the fullness of his God given potential.

 Have you observed just how difficult it is to get out of Comfort zones, how we simply do not like getting out of Comfort zones??

  

We have seen that  when we move out of our comfort zones we experience miracles, growth in every area of our lives. We operate in the fullness of our potential

 Agreed, growth is uncomfortable.  It is uncomfortable to intercede  for someone in need when we are so busy in our own worlds. It is uncomfortable to wake up extra early to read the Bible/Pray/ meditate on the Word so that you experience spiritual growth. It is uncomfortable to witness to someone whom you have never seen before. It is uncomfortable to tithe 10% or more of your income when you are wondering how to pay of the months bills.. And it is uncomfortable to give up old habits. It is uncomfortable but when you do it, you will be blessed

 Today, if God is calling us to do any one of these things, we need to respond.

When our bosses tell us to get out of our comfort zones we are quick to respond and obey.

How much more then should we respond and obey when  God tells us to get out of our comfort zones and do what he has commanded us to do?

Remember, God is NOT telling us to get out of our COMFORT ZONES to make our lives miserable.

 HE IS TELLING US TO GET OUT OF OUR COMFORT ZONE SO THAT HE CAN BLESS US AND WE CAN BE A BLESSING TO MANY.