The Song of Discomfort: A Prelude to Spiritual Growth

And facing my own discomfort this Lent

Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash

There was one free-time option at our church’s women’s retreat that I was planning to avoid: it was titled “Find your voice” and it was led by Alicia, our choir director.

I had found my voice on the page and I had certainly found my voice on the stage as a speaker, but singing? It was not my spiritual gift, I liked to joke. But through a series of last-minute, split-second decisions, I ended up seated in the second row next to my friend, waiting for the session to begin.

When was the last time you found yourself outside of your comfort zone? When was the last time you tried your hand at a new skill, awkward and self-conscious? That’s how I felt doing whole body stretches to loosen tension in my neck, shoulders, and hips. That’s how I felt doing vocal exercises, belting out roller coaster sounds.

“Anyone can sing,” Alicia said. “It’s a learned skill.”

This was news to me—I had grown up believing that some people could and others couldn’t. My mom, sister, and brother were singers. My dad and I simply weren’t.

By the end of our hour together, she had me hitting notes I never knew I could reach! I didn’t know I could surprise myself.

We don’t often choose to put ourselves in uncomfortable situations, preferring instead the convenient, familiar, and safe. But growth comes when we stretch ourselves, when we face the hard thing, when we take a step without knowing where it will lead.

“We may prefer to stay where we are, stay with what we know, and pretend we are content. Complacency, not doubt, is the great enemy of spiritual development,” writes Brian Zahn in his book When Everything’s On Fire.

Developing a singing voice is a low-stakes game, but there are times in life when the stakes are much higher, and complacency isn’t a choice: we are confronted with circumstances that must be walked through. It is often during these hard and painful seasons that our faith is stretched. Our spiritual growth is the result of leaning on the One who can see us through.

The last few weeks as I’ve considered what God might be calling me to lay down and give up for Lent, writing is the thing that keeps jumping up to the surface… and every time I try to argue it away. I don’t want to take a hiatus from writing every morning or from publishing on a regular schedule. But the nudge keeps returning and I feel compelled to accept the invitation to put down my pen, hard as it will be.

There are so many other wonderful voices out there, I’m under no illusion that mine will be missed—but I did want to let you know that I won’t return to this newsletter or my website until after Easter!

Something I wrote: The Bare-Faced Truth: A Lenten Experiment with Makeup and Faith. Last year, I tried to ignore the Holy Spirit’s nudge, and ended up wondering if I had caused a major accident on the I-5 as a result.

Something I read and loved: She Believed He Could, So She Did by Becky Beresford. This book hits the shelves on March 5, but I’ve been enjoying my advance copy! In this book, Becky dismantles the popular sayings of our day, like “You are enough,” “You can do hard things,” and “Believe in yourself.” Instead, she champions Christ-centered empowerment by relying on the strength and sufficiency of God in order to face life head on.

I’m a few chapters in and can’t wait to read the rest. I’m pretty sure this one would make for a fantastic small group book for your church or a bunch of friends as it would generate a lot of discussion! Preorder it here!

Something I listened to: Flourishing and Acedia on A Drink With a Friend podcast - this 18 minute episode by

Tsh Oxenreider

was encouraging and challenging all at once. I highly recommend listening before Lent begins on Feb. 14th, but I know you’ll get a lot out of it any time you listen!

Something I’m cooking: I’m eager to try these Ricotta and Spinach Calzones but I want to pick up a pound of ready-made pizza dough to save time!

What habit of faith might you need to add to your life this Lent?

It might be helpful to reflect upon how you most long to connect with God: through Scripture? Through prayer? Through others? At the soul level? And then choose a spiritual practice accordingly. If you’d like to some guidance in this type of reflection, I’d love to share my Connections Quiz with you. I created this as a bonus for my course: Spiritual Practices for the Busy Modern Woman.

This FREE resource is available in the Free for You section of my website. (The password should be in your welcome email, but please do hit reply if you forgot the password!)

Until next time,