Gumby

Let’s talk about the comfort zone and about how it looks and feels when God begins to pull you out of that place.

Stretching is part of His process.

And stretching always brings discomfort, while also creating flexibility.

Thanksgiving and CHRISTmas have stretched me. And if I am honest, the entirety of 2025 has stretched me.

I don’t know what your year looked like, but you can call me Gumby.

If you are not familiar with Gumby, he is a cartoon character and toy that is known for being famously stretchy. His malleable, clay-like nature allows him to bend, twist, and stretch his limbs far beyond normal.

That’s me right now, in pretty much every area of my life.

I feel like God is tugging on my limbs, pulling me out of joint, and making me almost unrecognizable in the process.

But thankfully, this is not my first rodeo. I have been stretched before, and I will be stretched again. We all will.

There is something profound about exiting the comfort zone and allowing God to have His way in our lives.

This stretching, this discomfort, is unto something magnificent. It is not random or useless. It is a powerful part of the process, and we have to trust it.

As I contemplate and reflect on 2025, I see so clearly how the Lord nudges us forward by allowing life to get very uncomfortable. If you are experiencing this, rejoice! You are being prepared - made ready - for something beautiful.

Did you know that a silversmith removes the dross (impurities) by holding the silver in the fire until he sees his reflection in it? This is what God is doing in our lives - refining and purifying - making us look more like Him. The stretching, the fire, the discomfort … it is all part of the Refiner’s process. We have to trust the process.

Proverbs 25:4, “Take away the dross from silver, and it will go to the silversmith for jewelry.”

When we are literally pulled out of our comfort zone, it can stir up all kinds of emotions, responses, and reactions. Fight or flight is real. It is the body’s physiological response to stress, and it causes multiple biological reactions that I will reserve for my Naturopath page, but the point is that we FEEL it.

When I feel that urge to fight or flee, I take time to quiet myself and ask the hard questions: “What am I afraid of? What are YOU asking me to do, Lord? Where am I being impatient - with myself, with others, or with the process?”

That feeling often reveals something inside of me that needs attention. It can also be a guide to lead me forward, possibly out of something toxic and/or into something new.

I believe many people are being stretched like Gumby in this season. Don’t resist it. Embrace it. If something makes you uncomfortable, move towards it … it will either refine you or define you … or both.

NOTE … In this season, extra grace is required (EGR). Don’t forget that! Give yourself grace and extend it to others.

Lessons are being learned here that cannot be learned any other way. Get comfortable being uncomfortable as you level up and prepare for what is next. His best is yet to come.

Refine me, Lord, until You see Your reflection in me. Amen.