Welcome to Pomoja Ministry. In our last conversation,
we talked about the people God uses in our process.
Some encourage us. Some correct us. Some support
us. Some challenge us. Some teach us boundaries.
Some are part of our journey for a season. And
we discovered that although people can play important
roles in our lives, people are not our source.
God is our source. But today, I want us to go
one step further. Because sometimes God doesn't
only use people. Sometimes He uses places. Sometimes
He uses circumstances. Sometimes He uses discomfort.
There are places we would probably remain forever
if they continued to feel comfortable. There
are seasons we would never leave if nothing disturbed
us. There are environments we have outgrown.
But because they are familiar, we keep trying
to remain there. And sometimes we pray, God,
make this comfortable again, while God may be
saying, I am trying to move you. Today, we are
talking about when God makes the place uncomfortable.
Be careful, comfort can become a cage. Comfort
is not evil. Rest is biblical. Peace is a blessing.
Stability is valuable. But comfort becomes dangerous
when it makes us resistant to movement. Sometimes
we become so comfortable with what God did yesterday
that we stop asking what He is doing today. We
know the people. We know the system. We know
the routine. We know what to expect. And even
when we sense that something is changing, familiarity
tells us, stay here. Because moving requires
faith, moving requires uncertainty, moving requires
releasing what we know, and sometimes the place
that no longer fits our purpose still feels safer
than the place God is calling us toward. So God
may allow circumstances that force us to confront
a question we have been avoiding. Is my season
here ending? Israel became comfortable in Egypt.
Israel's relationship with Egypt did not begin
with slavery. That is important. Joseph's family
came to Egypt during famine. Egypt was initially
a place of preservation. There was food there.
There was protection there. There was provision
there. There was survival there. Egypt was an
answer to a crisis. But generations passed. Joseph
died. A new Pharaoh arose who did not know Joseph
and the place that once preserved Israel eventually
became the place that oppressed Israel. That
teaches us something important. A place can be
right for one season and wrong for another. Something
does not have to have been a mistake simply because
its season eventually ends. Egypt had served
a purpose. But Egypt was never the promise. And
sometimes we confuse the place where God preserved
us with the place where God intends us to remain
permanently. Then the cry changed. Exodus tells
us that Israel groaned because of their slavery.
They cried out. And their cry went up to God.
God heard them. God remembered His covenant.
God saw them. And God knew. Notice what suffering
did. used to cry. The environment became so uncomfortable
that Israel began crying for deliverance. And
sometimes there are prayers that comfort never
teaches us to pray. There are cries that only
come when remaining where we are becomes unbearable.
This does not mean God delights in suffering,
but it means suffering does not have to be wasted.
Sometimes pain awakens something. Sometimes pressure
exposes that we have settled. Sometimes discomfort
reminds us, this cannot be all God has for me.
Sometimes the place that saved you cannot take
you where you are going. Egypt preserved Israel
during famine, but Egypt could not fulfill Israel's
covenant destiny. There was a promised land ahead.
That means Israel eventually had to leave the
very place that once saved them from starvation.
Think about that. Sometimes we become emotionally
attached to something because we remember what
it did for us. A job helped you through a difficult
season. A relationship carried you through loneliness.
A church helped you heal. A city gave you opportunity.
A position gave you stability. A particular environment
protected you when you needed protection, and
all of that may have been real, but gratitude
for what something was should not prevent discernment
about what its season is now. You can thank God
for Egypt and still leave Egypt. Then Pharaoh
became part of the pressure. When God sent Moses
to Pharaoh, Pharaoh resisted. Again, and again.
Then Israel finally left, but Pharaoh changed
his mind and pursued them. Now Israel had Pharaoh
behind them and the Red Sea in front of them.
There was no comfortable option. They could not
simply return to yesterday. They could not manufacture
tomorrow. They had to depend upon God, and God
opened the sea. Sometimes the pressure behind
you becomes part of what prevents you from returning
to a place God is bringing you out of. There
are moments when God allows yesterday to become
so uncomfortable that going backward no longer
feels like safety. And perhaps some of us have
been praying, God, remove the pressure. While
God is using the pressure to teach us, stop looking
backward. But not every uncomfortable situation
means leave. We need wisdom here. This is extremely
important. We cannot teach that every difficult
job means God wants you to resign. Every difficult
marriage means God wants you to leave. Every
church disagreement means God wants you somewhere
else. Every conflict means a season has ended.
Every uncomfortable relationship means somebody
needs to disappear. Sometimes discomfort means
stay and grow. Sometimes it means stay and confront.
Sometimes stay and forgive. Sometimes stay and
develop discipline. Sometimes stay and learn
patience. And sometimes move. The question is
not simply Am I uncomfortable? The question is,
God, what are you saying through the season?
That requires discernment. Jonah was uncomfortable
too. This distinction matters because sometimes
discomfort is not God moving us forward. Sometimes
discomfort is the consequence of moving in the
wrong direction. Jonah received instruction,
go to Nineveh. Jonah went toward Tarshish. Then
came the storm. That storm was not confirmation
that Tarshish was difficult. It was interruption.
So we must never interpret circumstances without
prayer and scripture. Not every closed door means
no. Not every open door means yes. Not every
storm means attack. Not every easy road means
God's will. Not every difficult road means you
missed God. We need discernment. Sometimes God
uses discomfort to move us forward. Sometimes
he uses discomfort to turn us around. The important
thing is learning to hear him. God may disturb
what you have settled into. There are moments
when we stop moving because something has become
good enough. Not God's best, just familiar enough.
predictable enough, safe enough, and purpose
becomes secondary to security. Then something
changes. The environment changes. The leadership
changes. The opportunity changes. The relationship
changes. The resources change. The door that
used to open easily becomes difficult. And immediately
we assume something is wrong. Maybe. But sometimes
something is changing because your season is
changing. What if God is allowing you to become
uncomfortable because comfort has become stronger
than calling? Abraham had to leave. God told
Abram, go from your country, your people and
your father's household to the land I will show
you. Notice, God did not initially give Abraham
the entire map. He gave him direction. Go. There
are seasons when purpose requires leaving familiarity
before you possess complete information about
the destination. That requires faith. We want,
God, show me everything, show me where, show
me how, show me when, show me who will help me,
show me how it will end, then I will move. But
sometimes God says, move, and I will show you.
That is uncomfortable, but faith often begins
where certainty ends. Joseph's places kept changing.
Think again about Joseph, his father's house,
the pit, Potiphar's house, prison, the palace.
Every place was different, and every place developed
something. At home, Joseph had the dream. In
Potiphar's house, he learned responsibility.
In prison, he exercised leadership without status.
In the palace, those earlier lessons suddenly
mattered. What looked like disconnected places
were actually forming one person. Joseph did
not know while managing Potiphar's household
that one day he would manage Egypt's resources.
But God knew. This is why you must be careful
about despising temporary places. Temporary does
not mean meaningless. Maybe you are not where
you ultimately belong. But there may still be
something where you are that you need for where
you are going. Don't leave before you learn.
This is another danger. Sometimes we become so
focused on leaving an uncomfortable season that
we fail to receive what the season came to teach.
We say, God, get me out. And perhaps God is saying,
before I get you out, I need to get something
out of you. Maybe impatience. Maybe pride. Maybe
fear. Maybe dependency upon people's approval.
Maybe lack of discipline. Maybe inability to
work with difficult people. Maybe an uncontrolled
tongue. Maybe poor boundaries. Maybe insecurity.
Because if God changes the location without changing
the person, sometimes we simply recreate the
same problem in a new place. You can leave Egypt
geographically while Egypt remains inside you.
And Israel demonstrated this repeatedly in the
wilderness. Their bodies had left Egypt. But
when pressure came, their minds kept saying,
let's go back. God was not only taking Israel
out of Egypt. He had to take Egypt out of Israel,
that is, refinement. The wilderness was not the
destination. But neither was the wilderness the
promise. This matters, too. Some Christians become
so accustomed to suffering that they almost develop
a theology of permanent wilderness. No. There
was purpose in the wilderness. There was manna.
There was revelation. There was dependence. There
was discipline. There was preparation. But there
was also a promised land ahead. Do not make a
permanent home in a place God intended as preparation.
The wilderness teaches you how to depend upon
God, but eventually dependence must accompany
you into promise. Sometimes the old place no
longer fits. Sometimes you recognize that a season
is ending because what once fit no longer fits.
The grace for it feels different. The assignment
feels complete. Your priorities have changed.
God has developed new capacity. New responsibility
is emerging. The old environment cannot accommodate
what is growing. And this is where fear becomes
loud. Because even an uncomfortable familiar
place can feel safer than an unfamiliar promise.
Israel literally said, let's go back to Egypt.
Why? Because slavery was familiar, promise was
uncertain. That is one of the strangest tendencies
of human nature. We can prefer familiar bondage
to unfamiliar freedom. Refinement teaches us
to trust God beyond familiarity. Sometimes God
uses opposition to keep you moving. There were
moments throughout Israel's history when opposition
drove them back toward dependence upon God. The
book of Judges repeatedly shows Israel wandering,
experiencing oppression, crying to God, and being
delivered. Again, we must not turn every enemy
into somebody God personally assigned to our
lives. But scripture clearly shows that God can
use even opposition within his disciplinary and
redemptive purposes. Sometimes the very thing
you wish would disappear is exposing how far
you have drifted from prayer. Sometimes pressure
restores priorities. Sometimes opposition reveals
where you place too much confidence in yourself.
Sometimes the situation you hate has you praying
again, reading scripture again, seeking God again.
reconsidering your decisions, reordering your
life. And then years later, you realize the situation
was painful, but God refused to waste the pain.
Psalm 100, 1967 says, I obeyed. Then verse 71
says, It was good for me to be afflicted so that
I might learn your decrees. The psalmist is not
saying pain itself is wonderful. He is recognizing
what God produced through it. Something changed.
Direction changed. Priorities changed. Obedience
changed. And maybe that is somebody's testimony.
Before this happened, I barely prayed. Before
this happened, I ignored warning signs. Before
this happened, I was too comfortable. Before
this happened, my priorities were confused. Before
this happened, I thought I could handle everything
myself. Then the fire came, and I began seeking
God differently. I love this statement from Pastor
Lawson Whitson from New Life Church of Jesus
Christ in Concord, North Carolina. If it made
you pray, it wasn't bad at all. So perhaps we
can say it this way. If what was meant to break
you drove you back to prayer, evil did not get
the final word. If the difficult season restored
your priorities, pain did not get the final word.
If losing something taught you what truly mattered,
loss did not get the final word. If rejection
pushed you toward the identity God had already
given you, Rejection did not get the final word.
If discomfort moved you from a place where you
had settled, discomfort did not get the final
word. God is still writing. Remember this principle.
Don't curse the place that prepared you. One
day Joseph could look backward differently. The
pit was terrible. Slavery was terrible. False
accusation was terrible. Prison was terrible.
But none of those places became wasted places.
Each chapter contributed something. And perhaps
there are places in your story you currently
hate. Don't romanticize them. Don't call evil
good. But don't conclude too quickly that nothing
valuable can come from them. You may one day
discover that you learned something there you
needed somewhere else. the patience, the discipline,
the leadership, the discernment, the prayer life,
the boundaries, the humility, the resilience,
the dependence upon God. The place may have been
temporary, but the lesson may become permanent.
Maybe, only maybe, God is moving you. So ask
yourself, am I fighting to remain somewhere because
God is telling me to stay? or because I am afraid
to move? Am I calling something spiritual warfare
when perhaps a season is ending? Am I trying
to reopen a door God allowed to close? Am I asking
God to restore comfort when He is developing
movement, but also ask, am I trying to leave
simply because staying requires maturity? Am
I interpreting correction as rejection? Am I
running from a place God is using to develop
me? Those questions require prayer. They require
scripture. They require the Holy Spirit. They
require wisdom. Because the goal is not simply
to escape discomfort. The goal is to remain aligned
with purpose. Maybe the place is not the purpose.
Egypt was not Israel's purpose. The wilderness
was not Israel's purpose. The pit was not Joseph's
purpose. Potiphar's house was not Joseph's final
purpose. Prison was not Joseph's final purpose.
Those were places within the process. Do not
confuse your current location with the conclusion
of your story. Maybe you are in a place of preparation.
Maybe a place of correction. Maybe a place of
healing. Maybe a place of waiting. Maybe a place
where God is teaching you what you will need
later. Maybe a place you are being prepared to
leave. But wherever you are, ask, God, what is
this season producing in me? Because if God is
refining you there, the place is not wasted.
Sometimes, God makes the place uncomfortable.
Maybe you have been asking God, Why did this
change? Why did something that once felt peaceful
become difficult? Why did something that once
fit suddenly feel too small? Why did circumstances
shift? Why did the old place stop feeling like
home? Sometimes there is no simple answer, but
sometimes God is moving you. Not because the
previous season was necessarily bad, but because
its assignment may be complete. The place that
preserved you may not be the place that fulfills
you. The place that healed you may not be the
place where you build. The place where you learned
may not be the place where you lead. The place
where you were hidden may not be the place where
you remain. And sometimes, God must disturb what
we have settled into, because purpose is calling
us forward. So don't worship comfort. Don't worship
familiarity. Don't worship stability. Worship
God. If he says stay, stay faithfully. If he
says grow, grow patiently. If he says wait, wait
faithfully. If he says return, return humbly.
And if he says move, move courageously. Because
sometimes the discomfort is not evidence that
God has abandoned you. Sometimes it is evidence
that the season is changing. You are not being
destroyed. You are being repositioned. You are
not being forgotten. You are being prepared.
You are not wandering without purpose. God is
teaching you to discern His movement. And even
in uncomfortable places, you are being refined
for a purpose. This is Pomoja Ministry. And in
our next conversation, we will go even deeper
into Joseph's revelation. Because eventually
Joseph looked at the people who betrayed him
and understood something extraordinary. They
had an intention, but God had a purpose. Conversation
9. You meant it for evil, but God meant it for
good.