There's a question that every serious believer must eventually face: What do you do when the Lord makes you uncomfortable?
I'm not talking about the discomfort of difficult circumstances or trials that come from living in a fallen world. I'm talking about that deep, internal stirring when God's Spirit begins to convict you about something in your life that needs to change. That burning sensation in your spirit when you know God is calling you to a higher standard, a deeper commitment, or a more radical obedience.
The prophet Jeremiah knew this feeling intimately. In Jeremiah 20:9, he cried out: "But if I say, 'I will not mention his word or speak anymore in his name,' his word is in my heart like a fire, a fire shut up in my bones. I am weary of holding it in; indeed, I cannot."
Jeremiah tried to ignore God's call. He tried to silence the voice of the Lord in his life. But he discovered something profound: when God puts His fire in your bones, you cannot simply wish it away. You cannot ignore it. You cannot suppress it indefinitely.
This morning, Jesus is going to show us in Luke 12:49-56 that this divine discomfort is not a bug in the system of faith—it's a feature. It's not something to avoid—it's something to embrace.
I. WHEN GOD'S FIRE BURNS WITHIN YOU
Let's read our text together: Luke 12:49-56. [Read passage]
"I have come to bring fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled!"
Jesus is speaking here about the fire of divine purpose, the fire of spiritual transformation, the fire that burns away the chaff and purifies the gold. This is not the fire of destruction, but the fire of refinement.
When God makes you uncomfortable, the first thing you need to understand is that this fire is intentional. Jesus wishes it were already kindled! He's not reluctant about this process. He's eager for it because He knows what it will produce in your life.
Think about what fire does:
* Fire purifies metals, separating the precious from the worthless
* Fire provides warmth in cold seasons
* Fire gives light in dark places
* Fire transforms raw materials into something useful
When you feel that burning conviction in your spirit, when God's word becomes like fire shut up in your bones, He is doing all of these things in your spiritual life.
But here's the key question: What do you do with that fire?
Some people try to quench it. They avoid church when they're feeling convicted. They stop reading their Bible when it gets too personal. They change the subject when God starts dealing with them about their marriage, their money, their mouth, or their motives.
Others try to redirect it. They get busy with religious activity, hoping that doing church work will satisfy the burning in their bones. They substitute service for surrender, activity for intimacy.
But Jeremiah shows us the right response: You let it burn until it consumes everything that needs to go.
II. WHEN GOD'S CALL CONSTRAINS YOU
In verse 50, Jesus says, "But I have a baptism to undergo, and what constraint I am under until it is completed!"
The word "constraint" here means to be pressed together, to feel pressure from all sides, to be held in a tight place. Jesus felt constrained by His mission. He felt the weight of what God had called Him to do, and that weight created a holy discomfort that drove Him toward the cross.
When God makes you uncomfortable, it's often because He's constraining you—pressing you toward a decision, a change, or a commitment that you've been avoiding.
Maybe God is constraining you about:
* A relationship that's pulling you away from Him
* A habit that's hindering your spiritual growth
* A calling that you've been running from
* A conversation you need to have
* A step of obedience you've been postponing
What do you do when you feel this divine constraint?
You can resist it, like Jonah did. But remember how that worked out for him—three days in the belly of a fish, and he still ended up doing what God called him to do.
You can delay it, like Moses did at the burning bush. But God's patience with our excuses has limits, and the longer we wait, the more uncomfortable the constraint becomes.
Or you can embrace it, like Mary did when the angel announced God's plan for her life. "Let it be unto me according to your word." She accepted the discomfort of God's will because she trusted the goodness of God's heart.
The constraint you feel is not punishment—it's God's love pressing you toward your destiny.
III. WHEN GOD'S TRUTH DIVIDES
Now Jesus says something that might shock us: "Do you think I came to bring peace on earth? No, I tell you, but division."
This is perhaps the most uncomfortable truth in this passage. We want to believe that following Jesus will make everyone happy, that living for God will smooth out all our relationships, that being a good Christian will make us popular.
But Jesus tells us that His fire creates division. Not because He wants to destroy relationships, but because truth has this effect. When you allow God's fire to burn in your life, it exposes the compromises of those around you.
What do you do when your obedience to God creates division?
Let me tell you about Maria, a woman in our community who worked in an office where gossip was the primary form of entertainment. For years, she participated because she wanted to fit in. But when God's fire began to burn in her heart about the power of words, she couldn't participate anymore.
At first, her coworkers tried to pull her back in. When that didn't work, they excluded her from conversations. Some even became hostile. Maria felt the division that Jesus talked about. She was uncomfortable because her obedience to God had cost her social acceptance.
But here's what Maria learned: The discomfort of standing alone with God is far better than the comfort of compromising with the crowd.
The division that truth creates is not hatred—it's separation. Light separates from darkness. Truth separates from falsehood. Righteousness separates from compromise.
When God makes you uncomfortable about participating in certain conversations, certain activities, or certain relationships, He's not trying to make you miserable. He's trying to make you holy.
IV. WHEN GOD CALLS YOU TO DISCERNMENT
In verses 54-56, Jesus gives a lesson about reading the signs: "When you see a cloud rising in the west, immediately you say, 'It's going to rain,' and it does. And when the south wind blows, you say, 'It's going to be hot,' and it is. Hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of the earth and the sky. How is it that you don't know how to interpret this present time?"
People could read weather patterns but couldn't discern spiritual seasons. They had natural wisdom but lacked spiritual insight.
What do you do when God makes you uncomfortable about your level of spiritual discernment?
Maybe God is stirring your heart to:
* Develop deeper Bible knowledge
* Cultivate a more consistent prayer life
* Learn to hear His voice more clearly
* Understand the spiritual climate of our times
* Recognize His movement in your circumstances
This discomfort is not condemnation—it's invitation. God is calling you to a higher level of spiritual maturity.
Like Jeremiah, you may feel God's word burning in your bones, compelling you to grow in areas where you've been content to remain immature. The fire of conviction about your spiritual development is God's gift, not His punishment.
V. EMBRACING THE DIVINE DISCOMFORT
So what do you do when the Lord makes you uncomfortable? Here's what I've learned from Scripture and experience:
First, don't run from it—lean into it. The discomfort you feel is often God's GPS system, guiding you toward His will for your life. Instead of avoiding the burning in your bones, ask God what He's trying to teach you through it.
Second, don't rush through it—wrestle with it. Like Jacob wrestling with the angel, sometimes you need to stay in the uncomfortable place long enough to receive your blessing. Don't seek quick relief from spiritual conviction. Let it do its deep work in your heart.
Third, don't minimize it—maximize it. Don't try to turn down the volume on God's voice in your life. If His word is burning in your bones like fire, fan the flames. Let that holy discomfort drive you to your knees, into His word, and toward obedience.
Fourth, don't personalize it—purpose it. Remember that God's discomfort in your life is not about His displeasure with you—it's about His purpose for you. He makes you uncomfortable with where you are because He has something better for you.
Let me share a personal testimony. Several years ago, God began to make me uncomfortable about my prayer life. I was praying, but it was routine, ritualistic, and rushed. The conviction was so strong that it felt like fire in my bones. I couldn't preach about prayer without feeling like a hypocrite. I couldn't lead others in prayer without sensing my own shallowness.
I could have ignored that discomfort. I could have rationalized it away by comparing my prayer life to others who prayed less. But instead, I leaned into it. I let that divine discomfort drive me to a deeper place with God.
That season of spiritual discomfort became one of the most transformative periods of my life. God wasn't trying to condemn me for inadequate prayer—He was calling me to experience the joy and power of deeper communion with Him.
VI. THE PURPOSE OF DIVINE DISCOMFORT
Why does God make us uncomfortable? Because comfort can become the enemy of growth. When we're too comfortable in our spiritual lives, we stop reaching for more of God. We settle for less than His best.
God's discomfort serves several purposes:
It reveals areas that need attention. Just like physical discomfort alerts us to health problems, spiritual discomfort alerts us to areas that need God's touch.
It creates hunger for change. When you become uncomfortable enough with your current spiritual condition, you'll be motivated to pursue transformation.
It prepares you for promotion. God often makes us uncomfortable in one season to prepare us for a greater assignment in the next season.
It deepens your dependence on Him. Discomfort drives us to God in ways that comfort never will.
It develops your character. The pressure of divine discomfort shapes us into the image of Christ.
Remember, the fire shut up in tpaaayour bones is not meant to destroy you—it's meant to develop you. The constraint you feel is not meant to crush you—it's meant to catapult you into your destiny.
CONCLUSION: SURRENDERING TO THE FIRE
Church family, I want to ask you directly: Is God making you uncomfortable about something today? Can you feel His word burning in your bones like fire? Is there a divine constraint pressing you toward a decision you've been avoiding?
Don't run from it. Don't suppress it. Don't try to negotiate with it.
Surrender to it.
Let God's fire burn away what needs to go. Let His constraint guide you toward what needs to come. Let His truth create whatever division is necessary for your spiritual health.
I think of the three Hebrew boys standing before Nebuchadnezzar's fiery furnace. They could have avoided the fire by compromising their convictions. They could have bowed down to the golden image and saved themselves from discomfort.
But they understood something profound: It's better to go through the fire with God than to avoid the fire without Him.
And when they came out of that furnace, they didn't even smell like smoke. The only thing the fire burned off was their chains.
That's what God's fire does in our lives. It doesn't destroy what's precious—it destroys what's binding us.
So what do you do when the Lord makes you uncomfortable?
You let the fire burn. You yield to the constraint. You accept the division. You embrace the growth.
Because on the other side of divine discomfort is spiritual breakthrough. On the other side of holy constraint is divine purpose. On the other side of necessary division is authentic community with those who share your commitment to Christ.
The fire in your bones is not your enemy—it's your invitation to intimacy with the God who loves you too much to leave you unchanged.
Will you surrender to the fire today?
ALTAR CALL
If God is making you uncomfortable about something in your life today, I want to invite you to come forward for prayer. Don't leave here carrying that burden alone. Let's pray together and ask God to give you courage to embrace whatever He's calling you to do.
If you've never surrendered your life to Christ, that burning in your heart may be God calling you to salvation. Don't resist that holy discomfort—respond to it. Come and give your life to Jesus today.
The altar is open. Come as you are, but don't leave as you came.
CLOSING PRAYER
Father God, we thank You for loving us enough to make us uncomfortable when we need to grow. We confess that we often resist Your fire, avoid Your constraint, and fear the divisions that truth creates.
Today we surrender to Your work in our lives. Like Jeremiah, we acknowledge that Your word burns in our hearts like fire, and we cannot hold it in. Give us courage to obey even when it's uncomfortable. Give us strength to stand even when we stand alone. Give us wisdom to discern Your voice in our generation.
Let Your fire burn away everything in us that hinders Your purposes. Let Your constraint guide us into Your perfect will. Let Your truth create whatever separation is necessary for our spiritual health.
We ask this in the name of Jesus, who embraced the ultimate discomfort of the cross for our salvation. Amen.
"But if I say, 'I will not mention his word or speak anymore in his name,' his word is in my heart like a fire, a fire shut up in my bones. I am weary of holding it in; indeed, I cannot." - Jeremiah 20:9
