Codes for Christian Living

Move Out of Your Comfort Zone

O Lord, I pray, please let Your ear be attentive to the prayer of Your servant, and to the prayer of Your servants who desire to fear Your name; and let Your servant prosper this day, I pray, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man. For I was the king’s cupbearer.
—NEHEMIAH 1:11

Nehemiah concluded the first chapter of his book with a final and seemingly benign sentence, “For I was the king’s cupbearer” (Nehemiah 1:11). On the surface it certainly does not sound too impressive. What was he? A dishwasher? A waiter? Or was he some type of a busboy? This statement seems so out of context with the rest of the chapter; it just hangs there like some sort of dangling addendum. But there is so much behind this simple sentence. Nehemiah was, in fact, the king’s most trusted confidant. He was constantly by the king’s side. He tasted every drop of drink and every morsel of food before it went into the king’s mouth. Nehemiah was no busboy; he was the faithful counsel to the most important man in the land.

The fact that Nehemiah had risen up through the ranks to become the “king’s cupbearer” speaks volumes about his own character and reputation. Persia was the world power of its day, and the king would select only the wisest, most honest, most loyal and trustworthy person he could find to be his personal cupbearer. The point Nehemiah is making with this statement is simply this—he had made it. He was fixed for life. He had a civil service job with what must have been incredible benefits. Yet he was willing to move out of his own comfort zone in order to be the agent of rebuilding in Jerusalem.

One of the reasons there is so little rebuilding of relationships and lives today is that too few of us are willing to step out of our own self-imposed comfort zones. We like our “benefits,” and we aren’t particularly willing to sacrifice them—not to help another and not to bring glory to God.

Rebuilding means that, at times, we have to move out of our own comfort zones. This is exactly what Jesus did when He laid aside His glory in heaven, encased Himself in human flesh, and walked among us. And He is still constantly calling on men and women to leave their comfort zones and follow after Him.

Content drawn from The Nehemiah Code: It's Never Too Late for a New Beginning.