I Honestly Just Want to be Comfortable
Our culture screams our right to comfort, doesn’t it?
Everything at our fingertips. Stores galore. Choices galore. Advertisements constantly drawing us toward things that will “make our lives better.”
I feel it. I’m drawn to it, like a moth to a flame.
Honestly, it almost seems like it has crept into our churches as well, becoming Christian country clubs where we can come, sit, be entertained, feel good about ourselves, check off the “good Christian” box & go home to the rest of our life.
And if we’re bored or the sermon isn’t captivating, well… why bother… maybe we just need a new church… maybe zoning out is the best bet so that we’re still “technically” going to church. We want to be comfortable at church.
Why Should I Go to Church?
Are we there to be served? Or to serve & praise God?
Are we there to feel good? Or to serve & praise God?
Are we there to get comfortable? Or to serve & praise God?
Why go to church? Why do you go?
And I am preaching to myself here, too, don’t get me wrong about that. These are questions I need to remember to ask myself from time to time when my attitude isn’t quite where it ought to be.
Going to church does not get me any brownie points with God. It doesn’t absolve any bad behaviors or attitudes from my week. It doesn’t earn me anything. God doesn’t need me to go to church. In fact, God doesn’t need ANYTHING from me at all.
But He still calls us to it… to worship Him TOGETHER… to serve TOGETHER… to live as a body with Jesus Christ as the Head. To build up (edify) & lift up (encourage) one another.
What Do You Think It Means to Worship?
Admittedly, in my 41 years of attending church, there are definitely weeks where I am just not feeling like I am getting anything out of the sermon or worship songs even.
So, when that happens… what do I do? What’s the point of it?
I think, to really answer this question well, we must strip it back to the meaning of one singular word—WORSHIP.
What is worship?
Is it getting dressed nicely & sitting in a pew so that you can check that “Christian box”?
Is it singing Christian-y songs in church?
Is it repeating a prayer or a Bible verse?
Is it listening to a sermon?
Um… nope.
Worship is a posture of the heart. Worship is a bowing down of your heart, your ideals, your beliefs, your understanding, your desires… & lifting up Him & the truth of His Word, the Bible.
What Does Worship Look Like
And to be honest, it’s hard to know when someone is being genuine in their worship just by looks alone–that’s why it’s not too great an idea to be looking around for it when you should be focusing on the posture of your own heart.
I once had a woman, who saw 20-something year old me sitting during the time we were asked to stand & sing, ask me to show respect & stand because “we’re singing now & I should not be sitting down.” What had I been doing? Feeling so overwhelmed by something in my life that I just sat down & prayed right there while others sang, calling out to God for rescue in a moment of deep hurting. I was worshipping… but it didn’t look the way some may think I “ought to” worship.
On the flip side, some may sing fervently & passionately, knowing every word, but inside, they’re thinking more about how great their voice sounds rather than truly bowing their heart to Him & lifting Him up in praise. (I have been guilty of that, too, on days when my voice surprises me.)
But true worship isn’t about appearances at all. In fact, even if we are SURE someone is NOT worshipping, as God whispered conviction over my heart years ago: “Whether or not they are truly worshipping should NOT determine whether or not I am truly worshipping.” Ouch, but true.
Worship Is About the Heart
Looking back, especially to my few years at Liberty University getting my degree in Business Marketing, I learned what true worship looked like.
It wasn’t raising my hands or bowing my head or even kneeling at my seat.
But it WAS a willingness to let my pride be washed away so my heart could elevate Him over myself, which often included a lifting of my hands a bowing of my head, & sometimes even a kneeling at my seat. Because it became more about laying aside others’ opinions of me so that I could lift Him up.
There was so much zeal, so much zest, so much LIFE in my life back then.
Some Settings Make It So Easy to Live a Life of Worship
But you know what? Everything in my life back then was always, consistently pointing me back to WORSHIP.
My professors, prayers before classes, weekly convocation, discussions in the dorms, student leadership, Bible Studies, church… everything in my life pointed out to me the “WHY” I ought to live each day—JESUS.
AKA to live a life of Worship.
And because I was surrounded by reminders & testimonials of seeing God always at work around me, it was easy to want to be all in—I could see very clearly that He very much is deserving of my everything.
So, even though surrender is still hard—it still requires a laying down of self & what I want or believe or think, in exchange for His ways… surrender to Him felt always like the better choice—because it always is.
Everything in my life pointed back to Him, back to worship… & as a result, I was encouraged to lay more of my life down to Him.
And as a result of that… joy was a defining feature of my life.
Why Do You Go to Church?
We ought to go to church….
Not because it makes you feel good, but because He is good.
Not because it is always easy, but because it is always worth it.
Not because you feel you ought to, but because He deserves it despite however you feel.
What Happens When the Zest Fades?
It’s been 15 years since I graduated (& that is WITH waiting until I was in my mid-twenties to go back to college).
Not everything in my world points back to Him nowadays. Every discussion around me no longer encourages my focus back to Him. Distractions are everywhere & testimonials are few & far between at times.
And my craving for comfort seems to win far too often.
I mentioned on social media last night how I feel like I have lost my zest for life. I feel more somber, more gray, more tired.
“Peppy & full of life” doesn’t really describe me most days anymore. “Tired” seems more accurate.
“I Will Praise You in This Storm”
My life doesn’t really feel like it’s in a “storm,” but more like a fog has settled over it. More clouds than sunshine maybe.
And I am tempted to pray for that zest to return once more—to feel that alive again when I worship.
But true worship is not defined by how much zeal I feel. It is tested in the murky waters, too, when it doesn’t come so easily. I realize that oftentimes, I am tempted not to be intentional in my worship when I am just not “in it.” As if that were the point of worship.
It’s not.
Worship Is About Him
Worship isn’t about me or how good it feels to praise God. Worship is about Him… His deserving, His worthiness, His holiness, His goodness, His grace, His everything.
And you know what… it’s been a good reminder for me, not feeling so full of zeal & zest… to realize my worship is not about me anyway.
Do I crave the type of worship where my heart was all in, full of joy, full of zest, head low, hands raised, heart lifting Him up in all of His splendor? Oh yes, for sure.
But maybe not yet. Maybe right now, right here is where I need to be… learning to praise Him even when it doesn’t feel so easy, when I’m more tired & He’s still the same.
Go to Church Anyway
It is a humbling reminder of how great He is even when I don’t feel so great.
He never changes. He is still & always will be worthy to be praised.
And that is why I should go to church… Even without my zest. Because I need community. I need edifying. I need fellowship & testimonials. I need reminding.
I need to worship.
On those days where I feel out of it, somber, gray, tired… when the sermon “isn’t hitting” & it falls flat on my heart… when I don’t feel like I am “getting anything out of it,” I can take a moment to remember that none of that is a factor in whether or not my God deserves my worship.
Have a Surrendered Heart Anyway
I can still bow my head through my numbness & be honest with Him:
“God, forgive me for not feeling “into it.” You are worthy regardless of how I may be feeling. Help me to learn more about You through Your Word today. Help me to be an encouragement to others today. Help me to serve You well in the ministries You have encouraged me to help with, ever pointing them to find their lasting hope in You alone. Help me to remember who You are & all that You deserve from me. Help me to serve You faithfully. Help me to live with a surrendered heart, willing to obey… even when it doesn’t create happy zest feeling in my life. You are fully deserving, no matter how I may be feeling in any given season of my life. Thank You for never ever giving up on me, though I deserve it more than I could ever even realize. You are worthy to be praised. Always. AMEN.”
He Is Deserving
“And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.” (Hebrews 10:24-25)
“Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised….” (Psalm 48:1a)
“You are worthy, O Lord,
To receive glory and honor and power;
For You created all things,
And by Your will they exist and were created.” (Revelation 4:11)
“Make a joyful shout to the Lord, all you lands!
Serve the Lord with gladness;
Come before His presence with singing.
Know that the Lord, He is God;
It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves;
We are His people and the sheep of His pasture.
Enter into His gates with thanksgiving,
And into His courts with praise.
Be thankful to Him, and bless His name.
For the Lord is good;
His mercy is everlasting,
And His truth endures to all generations.” (Psalm 100)
Shine HOPE, by determining to praise/worship God & go to church anyway, even when it doesn’t always give you “happy feels”… even when life isn’t comfortable… even when you feel gray… because no matter what, He is worthy to be praised.
Hope Mail (June 2025)
FOR A LIMITED TIME – Only available during the month of June! Enjoy free shipping on your Hope Mail package when you subscribe every month!
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A Note from Michelle:
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June 202
How You Can Help Artisans around the World AND Help Support My Website:
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Have a wonderful week living for His glory in all that you do!
