What if the greatest threat to your spiritual growth isn't rebellion but routine?
We often think of spiritual danger in dramatic terms: backsliding, falling away, abandoning faith altogether. But there's a quieter, more insidious danger that affects far more believers. It's the danger of settling. Of being productive yet parked. Of having faith without fire.
As we step into a new year, many of us carry the same struggles, the same hurts, and the same patterns we've been managing for years. We've learned to survive rather than truly live. We've downsized our faith to fit our comfort zones. And in doing so, we've missed the "more" that God has been calling us toward all along.

The Trap of "Fine"
How often do we answer the question "How are you?" with a simple "I'm fine" or "I'm good" when everything is actually far from fine?
The truth is, sometimes the greatest distraction from God's purpose isn't disaster, it's being comfortable. When life is stable, when we have our routines, our jobs, our responsibilities all in order, we can easily miss what God is trying to call us toward. We can be faithful where we are and still miss where God is calling us to go.
This was Moses' reality in Exodus 3.

When God Interrupts Comfort
Moses had fled Egypt years earlier after killing an Egyptian guard. Now he was living in Midian, working for his father-in-law, tending sheep. He had a job. He had a family. He had stability. Everything we typically pray for. Life was manageable.
But manageable isn't the same as purposeful.
One ordinary day, while leading his flock to the far side of the wilderness, Moses encountered something extraordinary: a bush that burned but wasn't consumed. Flames danced through the branches, yet the leaves remained intact. It was impossible to ignore.
When Moses turned aside to investigate, God called out to him: "Moses! Moses!"
God doesn't always whisper. Sometimes He interrupts. Sometimes He disrupts our comfortable routines with something that demands our attention. Something we simply cannot walk away from.
The burning bush wasn't just a spectacle. It was an invitation.

Standing on Holy Ground
God's first instruction to Moses was unexpected: "Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground."
Why remove his sandals? Because holy ground is often uncomfortable. God was asking Moses to remove what made him comfortable in order to draw closer. To approach with vulnerability. To come as he was, barefoot, exposed, without the protection of what he'd grown accustomed to.

Some of us want all of God's presence with all of our comfort. We want His power, His promises, His provision, but we want to sacrifice nothing. We want holy ground with comfortable shoes on.
But encountering God requires removing the layers we hide behind. It means coming to Him with our insecurities, our doubts, our brokenness, and saying, "God, I need You more than I need my comfort."

The God Who Sees
Before giving Moses an assignment, God revealed His character: "I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering."
God wasn't distant. He wasn't detached. He was deeply involved in the pain and struggle of His people. And now He was acting, not because His people had earned it, but because He is faithful.
Then came the commission: "So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt."
Moses, a shepherd who had been tending flocks the day before, was now being called to lead a nation. The assignment was far beyond anything he could have imagined.

The Excuses We Make
Moses' response sounds remarkably familiar: "Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?"

Settling always sounds reasonable. Our excuses feel justified:

• I'm not qualified enough
• I'm too old or too young
• I don't have it all together
• I've already missed my season
• I'm just trying to survive
• I don't want to risk what I have
• 
  

But God didn't answer Moses' insecurity with reassurance about Moses' abilities. Instead, He gave Moses something far better: "I will be with you."
God's calling isn't based on who you are. It's based on who He is. What God is calling you to isn't determined by what you've done. It's determined by what He has already done.

The Greater "I AM"
When Moses asked God what name he should give the Israelites, God responded: "I AM WHO I AM. Tell them 'I AM has sent you.'"
I AM—the self-existent, all-sufficient, ever-present God. The deliverer. The healer. The way maker. The provider. The peace giver.
Centuries later, this same "I AM" stepped into human history in the person of Jesus. When Jesus declared "I am the bread of life," "I am the light of the world," "I am the resurrection and the life," He was revealing Himself as the ultimate fulfillment of God's promise to Moses.
Whatever you need God to be in this season, He already is. He says, "I AM."

What Does "More" Look Like?
If God is calling us to more, what does that actually look like in real life, with real struggles, real responsibilities, and real limitations?
It means choosing spiritual depth over distraction. It means cultivating a faith that transforms us, not just inspires us for a moment. It means moving from being spectators to becoming stewards of what God has entrusted to us.
More isn't about doing more activities. It's about becoming more like Christ. It's about having more of His presence, more of His purpose, more obedience to His voice.
More means recognizing that we don't exist for ourselves. We exist for the empty chairs around us—for the broken, the hurting, the overlooked, the ones who've given up on church but not on God.

The Miracle of "Yes"
The miracle of the burning bush wasn't the fire that didn't consume. The real miracle was that Moses said yes.
God is still interrupting comfortable lives with holy callings. The question is: Will we say yes?
You weren't made to just attend. You weren't healed just to maintain. God didn't call you out of a difficult past for you to settle in a comfortable present.
You were made for more—more joy, more peace, more purpose, more impact. You were made to experience the fullness of God's love and to share it with a world desperately in need of hope.

The same God who created everything from nothing is still creating today. He's creating new beginnings, new hope, new purpose. And He's inviting you to step into it.
Take off your comfortable shoes. Stand on holy ground. And say yes to the more He's calling you toward.
Because the God who says "I AM" is with you—and that changes everything.