There’s something safe and comfortable about known behaviors. They’ve gotten you through so even if they don’t feel the best, you can’t fail, right??? At least that’s the lie that the enemy tries to feed us with. The truth is- what is “known” can sometimes actually a trap.

At one point in my life, I knew that money was here be spent. I’d never thought about vacations or even knew how to utilize self-control so that I could live a life beyond the chaos and feeling unprepared. I knew that Social Security was retirement until a college professor scoffed at me and clarified. Yea, at 20 years old I learned that you actually save for retirement. The government taking it out with taxes isn’t how it goes.

Some less extreme examples could be knowing that every person with a sign asking for money is simply an alcoholic or drug abuser choosing to take advantage. Sure, that’s the case in some situations but not all the time. It could be knowing that the teen who talks back is hateful when really, the kid’s parents work all the time so they are alone at home eating frozen pizza.

Heres the irony: The more stable I become, the more I find myself closer and closer to trapping myself in comfort. At one point I was the girl who knew the strangest and most taboo things. Like sleeping on a bed with no bedframes or top sheet and walking around town until 2am due to no supervision and bad peer groups.

Suddenly, the chaos diminishes while reaching out to someone or being inconvenienced by a request has become harder to do while excuses are even easier to find. I get used to my schedule. Comfortable with my life and how I like things to go. If it prevents me from checking off an item on my to-do list or causes me a little bit of stress I am more likely to look the other way or avoid it altogether.

The little things I know matter just as much as those big ones I knew and was retrained on earlier in my life. I can’t pursue the path God has for me without remaining malleable in the little things. That may look like taking dinner to a new momma or picking up a kid for a ride. Being a shoulder for a friend to cry on, paying for the person’s coffee in the drive-through behind me, or if I feel led, giving that guy on the side of the road my spare change. Malleability has many different scenarios. Lord, give me the descernment to recognize all of them.

~ Lovelle ❤