Comfort Zone

Recently I was praying and God showed me the primary reason that He wanted me to go to Europe and South America was to get me out of my personal "comfort zone." In the US I understand the language and the culture. If i need to go somewhere He has given me a car. If I need to communicate there is a phone. I eat the food that i want and set my own schedule. I am not dependent. When i travel i often don't understand what is being said in Portuguese, don't pick up on the cultural cues, am dependent for transportation, food, lodging etc. Often I am the tail wagged by the dog. I need to be flexible with people who don't think or do things the way that I do. However God uses this reality to work in me in a different way than He does here. Similarly a short term missions team often does not know the language or the culture or have skills relevant to the place and people that they visit. The real work of God is in those who go especially if they travel to a poor country and see the difference between our hedonism, affluence and entertainment driven culture and that of people focused on survival. Our human tendency is to crave comfort and ease. One of our common sayings in leaving someone is, "Take it easy." Or we say, "Don't work too hard." Yet we see Biblically that God does not promise things will always be "good." In fact the Scripture says, " Through much tribulation we must enter the kingdom of God." ( Acts 14:22) Crisis can bring us much closer to God than smooth sailing.