Getting better at skateboarding can be very uncomfortable and unsettling. Trying a new trick usually takes many roll ups and battles within our mind before we work up the courage to go for it. The first try is always the hardest, because it is the most uncertain. We have of an idea of how it will go, but we have no way of really knowing until we try it and get a feel for it. Something I love and hate about skateboarding is the discomfort that comes from trying new things, and when I can’t overcome the battle within my mind to at least give the trick a couple tries, it ruins me and makes me feel awful. If I am committed to becoming the best skateboarder I can than I have to do things that make me uncomfortable, sometimes I can push through it and sometimes I can’t. If we want to get better at something we have to do things that push us beyond our comfort levels. Discomfort is a good sign, it is a sign that we are getting better and reaching toward our goals.

I’ve noticed in my life that I often base my decisions on which one is the most comfortable, but when we look at the life of Jesus, He is often doing the exact opposite. He never saw discomfort as something to be avoided, but something to be embraced. There is a story in the New Testament where Jesus is invited into a home with some religious leaders for the sole purpose of seeing if he will heal a man with dropsy on the Sabbath. The Sabbath was supposed to be a day where nobody was supposed to do any work, and somewhere along the way healing came to be seen as work. Jesus knowing what he was getting himself into, heals the man and says to the religious leaders, “Which of you having a son or an ox that has fallen into a well on a Sabbath day, will not immediately pull him out?” Jesus knew that this invitation to come into this home was a setup, He knew that he was walking into a very uncomfortable circumstance. An even better example is the night before Jesus was to be betrayed and gruesomely crucified on a cross; scripture says in Luke 22:44 that he was sweating blood and in agony for what he was about to endure. Jesus could have left Jerusalem and ran away that night, but he chose not too because His decisions weren’t based on what brings the most comfort, but what brings the most good. Doing the right thing is often uncomfortable. If we chose to just do what was comfortable for us, we would never do the right thing and we would never grow as individuals.

If we want to be a better skateboarder and be a better human, we have to learn to do things that make us uncomfortable. Discomfort should be welcomed, not pushed aside or avoided, for it is a sign that we are growing and becoming better at what we do. Jesus tells us in Matthew 7:13-14, “Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those find it are few.” Becoming better at something and doing the right thing is hard and is often uncomfortable, but the fulfillment of seeing the good that comes as a result is worth it. Growing as individuals and getting better at the things we love is uncomfortable, and should be something to be celebrated instead of shunned.

Reflection Questions:

What are some things that are uncomfortable for you that you often run from and avoid at all costs? What would happen if you chose to do them instead of run? How would it build your character? Is there a possibility that it could even do something good for other people as well?