Hanging Out With Jesus Podcast

99: How to Jump From the Comfort Zone to the Trust Zone with Cecil Taylor

• Lyvita Brooks / Cecil Taylor • Season 2024 • Episode 99

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Have you ever felt the tug at your heart, urging you to step beyond the known and into a life of deeper faith? Join me, Lyvita and my guest Cecil Taylor as we traverse the path that takes us from the cozy confines of our comfort zones to the exhilarating trust zone where God's plan becomes our compass. Cecil, author of "From Comfort Zone to Trust Zone How Jesus Urges Us to Take Leaps of Faith for His Kingdom," imparts wisdom on how to quiet the anxieties that chain us to predictability and how to confidently say yes to the divine adventures set before us. His profound insights promise to guide you through the mental barriers that keep you from experiencing God's full potential for your life.

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Lyvita:

Saints, have you ever been in a position where God is telling you to do something but fear and anxiety have frozen you up against a wall? All you see are the problems, the failures, the broken safety nets, the unfulfilled promises and the pain of what ifs and the lie of nothing's ever good enough or awfulizing everything like I can't do anything right. These sentence starters can wreak havoc on your body, mind and spirit, habit on your body, mind and spirit. In this episode, I pray that my guest, cecil Taylor, and I can equip and encourage you to come from out of your comfort zone into the trusting of God's own. So on to the intro. Welcome to Hanging Out With Jesus podcast, the podcast that helps you spend time with God, to declutter your mind intentionally and daily, so you can go and do what God's called you to do. This is episode 99. It's all about jumping from your comfort zone into the trust zone. Saint, it's time for a new perspective on life, time to take a risk. Hey, thanks for listening in and welcome.

Lyvita:

I'm Lyvita, founder of the Me Project Academy and your host. Joining me in this discussion is Cecil Taylor. I asked him to join us because he wrote another book, saints. It just seems as if every book he's writing or has written I can use. It is so helpful. But this book ties in with the purpose of this podcast to build up the brokenhearted, to break the chains of anxiety and unlock the prisoners that are bound by fear. So you, so we, can complete the mission God called us to do intentionally and daily. Cecil's tarot book is called From Comfort Zone to Trust Zone how Jesus urges us to take leaps of faith for his kingdom Together. I pray this episode awakens your senses to intentionally making steps, to doing what God's called you to do. Let's get started. Welcome, cecil, to Hanging Out With Jesus podcast for the third time.

Cecil:

Yeah, number three, and it's episode 99. I feel very honored to be episode 99, I tell you hey, so I just want to tell the same season.

Lyvita:

I was talking beforehand and I told him I am afraid to find out what he's going to write next, because it just seems like every book he has written is. It's something that I need you'll be glad, levita.

Cecil:

My next book is how to Spend that $5 Million you Just Won in the Lottery. Oh, wow, I'm joking. I'm joking. That'd be nice, though, right? Well, actually, one of the things I'm looking at is a sequel to the next thing that I think you would like quite a bit. So that may be a 2025 project, but we'll see. I got my hands full right now.

Lyvita:

Cause you know that was my favorite book. That just started the whole, our whole connection.

Cecil:

Yeah, yeah, yeah, it's, it's, uh, it's close to my heart too, and I'm really excited about how the book still has a life. You know, even though it's been out a couple of years, people are still passing it around, they're still recognizing it in awards and things like that, so it's really a blessing.

Lyvita:

That's right, Because Saints check out episode 80. I got to tell you episode 80. And you're right, it won the Christian Indie Publishing Award and the Marketing Award, right.

Cecil:

Well, yeah, we'll see they're finalists. It's a finalist, I'll put it that way. Yeah yeah, we'll find out actually a couple of days from now, when, at the time this, this podcast, drops, we'll be finding out right, right.

Lyvita:

What about the? You received another award too yeah, so it was.

Cecil:

It was honored with uh um, an award from the blue light blue lake christian writers conference called the living water award, uh, for non-fiction. And so, uh, it's been recognized now twice and more than that, to be honest, the joy of that book is hearing people say this had a lot of meaning because it's a book about dealing with crisis in personal life. It's very raw, very vulnerable, really dips into some family situations we had and people come back and say they really appreciate the vulnerability that when say they're having a book study and they read that book, they can open up and be vulnerable themselves. There are chaplains that use this book, there are counselors who use this book and to me that's the greatest joy, beyond any kind of recognition, is just knowing it's making an impact on people's lives.

Lyvita:

Yeah, yeah. And then your second book was Live Like You're Loved, and that helped me in the sense that I had to change my view of how I was seeing myself. It really was a blessing. But can you share a little bit about that book?

Cecil:

Yeah, the thing about Live Like You're Loved is it delves into kind of the dirty little secret we have as Christians that we believe that God loves everybody, but we're not sure that God loves me and that God forgives me.

Cecil:

So I go through how God loves you, god forgives you, god sends you every day and God wants eternal connection with you, and then I show how to live like you're loved, live like you're really forgiven, live like you're really sin, live like you're really eternal. That book has also been a blessing to a lot of people, I'm happy to say. I read some of the reviews on Amazon of people who've read it. I read some of the reviews on Amazon of people who've read it and it brings me to tears, levita, because there are people who say you know, I fell away from God and this book brought me back, or this book touched my heart in a way I never realized it would. It really got into some things with me, and so those kinds of things aren't just oh, yeah, it's a good book. It's making a difference and that's really why you and I do the things we do. It's to make a difference in people's lives.

Lyvita:

Yeah, yeah, and Saints, that is episode 81. We're going from 80, 81 to 99. So we to now, from comfort zone to trust zone. It's almost like we're being led all the way from problem looking at the problem, realizing that there's a next step to changing our thought process, our self-talk, to changing our thought process, our self-talk, realizing that God truly loves us and he's in the midst of everything. He wants us to hear him, to going into realizing that we've been sitting in our comfort zone of fear and anxiety and broken heartedness. We've been there, we've been there. We've been there too long. So now, how we get from there to truly trusting God? I think God has you on a path here.

Lyvita:

But let's dive into this, because I want us all to get on the same page of the comfort zone. But I need. Is it all right if I read page 31, just that first paragraph? Sure, because I had to say what. Let me read it to you. The common comfort zone is that these people all wanted Jesus on their terms, for their convenience, as they could fit him into their schedule If he wasn't too demanding or challenging or weird, if he didn't ask too much of them. Seriously, you're trying to tell me that we've been planning and trying to put God in according to our convenience. That makes me sit back and say, whoa, let me rethink. Have am I scheduling right? Am I, when I have a quiet time, I just sticking him in where I want him in, or am I sticking him in where he wants to be in?

Cecil:

Right.

Lyvita:

Talk to me a little bit, talk to us a little bit about that, so we'll be on the same page about this comfort zone.

Cecil:

Yeah, well, that's absolutely right, Levita, that we want Jesus on our terms, not on the terms Jesus has for us. So that paragraph is a good paragraph, thank you. It elaborates on that. And what I actually do in the book is I go through 12 stories of Jesus, identifying people's comfort zones and trying to invite them, even push them out of those comfort zones and into his trust zone, where they are taking risks for him, where they do something different for him, where they do things on his terms, because he does want that for us, because he has a bigger vision for us. And when we do that we will find we actually develop our faith more, because we've walked out on the wire, we have gotten into a trust.

Cecil:

You, you are in trouble and you're just so disoriented. And yet, when we are on a glass floor that Jesus is underneath holding up, we are on the most solid ground we've ever been on, even though it doesn't feel like it, it feels uncomfortable, it doesn't feel right, but Jesus is there and he's leading us into some new kind of promised land for us and to serve his kingdom.

Lyvita:

That is true. So now that, so that's the comfort zone, so the trust zone, and I'm going to read a paragraph from page 30. Trust zone, and I'm going to read a paragraph from page 31. The trust zone, then, is accepting Jesus on his terms and his time, ready to drop what we're doing, plowing forward, eager to do his will and to see what he has in store for us next, going all in. What you mean by going all in?

Cecil:

going all in. What do you mean by going all in? Yeah, I tell a story in the book where I always thought, levita, I mean I was a preacher's kid, I grew up in the church, I was always volunteering, I was doing one thing after another for Christ and I got to a point in my life I won't tell the whole story but basically I got convicted by the Holy Spirit that you know what you're doing, a lot of things and you're giving a lot. But there's one thing you've never given to me that I really want, and that is your heart. Wow, I thought God didn't know that.

Cecil:

Somehow I was holding back because I was afraid, if I really give myself all over to God, what is he going to ask me to do? I may not want to do that. That's not on my terms. I may not want to go all in. I don't want to look weird. I don't want to look strange to my friends, you know. And I had to get to a point of saying what does it mean to give my heart to God? So I kind of went on a journey with that to learn, and I did a lot of scripture reading. Psalm 63 was my go-to for days and days, and days and weeks, and just really pondering Psalm 63, which is really about giving your heart to God, I feel like, and I finally got to a place where I could say I'm all in, I am with you, do with me what you will, and I'll tell you when you say that he takes that invitation and runs with it.

Lyvita:

Yes, he does. Yes, he does, because you know what? That is one of the hardest things I think believers have to come to grips with when they say, lord, I'm giving you my heart. When you first start yeah, you start giving your heart. And then you start listening to other people and you start seeing things happening. You said, oh God might send me to the mission field where they don't have bathrooms. Oh no, I can't, you know. And then all this stuff started coming into your mind. You start just getting all this clutter and God, all God wants you to do is love him the first thing. Just love him, you know. But we'd have gotten all this other stuff to clog our mind, to stop us and put a shield. God, you can go in all these other parts of my heart, but not right here.

Lyvita:

I'm scared. You're right, you're right. That's why this book is important, because it does help us to come to grips with. Okay, I know where I am now. I know I'm not at that point where I'm truly giving my all to God. What do I need to do, cecil? What do I need to do to get to that point where I can just jump over, because you got a person parachuting out of an airplane on the front of the book?

Cecil:

That's right.

Lyvita:

Matter of fact, there is a part in here where you talk about relinquishing certainty and I believe you're talking about that's a part of the comfort zone and then embracing I'm sorry, relinquishing certainty and then embracing uncertainty, and that's the trusting zone part, am I right? You're?

Cecil:

right. The relinquishing uncertainty, relinquishing certainty is the comfort zone that we have, and this is the root of our comfort zone, trust zone dilemma right here. We like certainty, we like certainty, I like certainty. You know, I've got a daily routine to-do lists. I've got life planned out a certain way. Everybody does that. I'm going to do this by a certain age. I'm going to take this trip.

Cecil:

God just kind of laughs knowingly at us. I imagine we fight hard for certainty, and there's a verse I didn't use in the book, but I think it's a good example of this the story of Martha and Mary in Luke 10, when Jesus comes to visit and Mary is listening to him and Martha is scurrying around and doing her thing, and she comes to Jesus and say make Mary help me because she's going, I'm off schedule, I'm not in control here and my routine is disrupted. And even because she's going, I'm off schedule, I'm not in control here and my routine is disrupted. And even though she's arguing about Mary, in truth what happened was Jesus disrupted her routine and now she's trying to get back control from Jesus, if you get down to it. And so she wants that certainty. She wants that control. We all want certainty. She wants that control. We all want certainty, we all want control. But life first of all laughs at us as well, because things are not certain. So I think the strange phrase in there is embrace uncertainty. How do we embrace and welcome uncertainty? And my favorite quote in the book is in that chapter. It's uncertainty is the soil in which faith grows. Uncertainty is the soil in which faith grows.

Cecil:

Hebrews 11.1 says now, faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. In other words, it's not faith if you can see it. That's fulfillment of the promise. Faith is when we're just hoping. We want what is not available. We're hoping for it, we're relying on God for it. And if you think about your life, most of the time the big faith advances in your life Come in the hard times or when it's uncomfortable, uncertain. You don't know what's going to happen. That's when faith really does grow. So the idea of this is let's give up the idea of control and let's embrace what uncertainty is, because we know we're going to get something out of it. It's uncomfortable but we're going to grow from it and we're going to grow closer to God through that uncertainty.

Lyvita:

Saints. We will get back to the episode, but I wanted to share that. Next month we will be celebrating our 100th episode and the major transition that occurred in my life to propel me into the trust zone a new season, what we're talking about now. If you want to know what's happening on future podcast episodes, improve your self-talk, make sense of your heartaches and declutter your mind so you can go and do what God's called you to do, then sign up for our email community. It's free. Links in the show notes.

Lyvita:

Now back to the episode. Okay so, cecil, so is there anything like practical tips or support or something that we could do that will help us make that jump from the comfort zone to the trust zone? Because you have this. You have one chapter. I just love the title. It's called Leaving Safety for Danger, because in our heads, that's what we're doing, because we don't know what's out there. In our heads that's what we're doing because we don't know what's out there and it's like we, as believers, we know what's out there and that we know what God has done for us in the past and we keep forgetting that because we're looking at the unknown again and we stop trusting. So what's?

Cecil:

something practical we can do to help us make this jump from comfort to trust. Well, that is the trick, isn't it? And I think with my own life, it has started with being open and vulnerable to God. It starts with that. I think we need to listen for how the Holy Spirit is moving us In Live Like You're Loved. I actually list seven ways in which that happens through prayer, through conscience, through other people, through the events of our lives shaping us, through our passions, changing through those events of our lives shaping us through our passions, changing through those lightning moments when you actually can hear the spirit's voice. And then multiplication, which is when you see, once you've gone down a path, that God starts multiplying it because you brought those five loaves and two fish and things start happening because you have made the commitment. So it really starts with, I think, listening to the Holy Spirit and getting past the idea you mentioned danger.

Cecil:

I mean danger is exposure, it might be injury, it might be pain, it might be loss. It can be a lot of different things and we perceive danger in a lot of different things and we perceive danger in a lot of different ways, even just you know, like Mary and Martha, like Martha perceived danger because it was different than what she wanted. So there's really big things like the you know going to that mission field or whatever. But there's a lot of subtle comfort zones I talk about in the book. One of the things that people say is I didn't know I had these comfort zones. There's comfort zones in there that are like we have privilege or we have abundance and we just think that's normal, that's our comfort zone and we don't share it or leverage it to help somebody else. That's when you get into the trust zone of saying I'm gonna, I'm gonna give up this, at least a portion, if not all, of my privilege and my abundance, to help somebody else and and to help the kingdom.

Cecil:

We might chase status or money. You know I to watch out, I can't get where I'm too wrapped up in these awards we talked about earlier. That's chasing something worldly at the end of the day. But Jesus frequently stressed how we need to be humble and wash each other's feet so we can't get caught up in status seeking. Even the disciples were jockeying for who's the best disciple. You know Jesus is going no, no, no. You need to wash each other's feet. We might be worshiping other gods without realizing it. And I think in an election year, it's very easy to get caught up in political solutions, political saviors, a lot of things like that, when Jesus is our Savior.

Cecil:

And we need to make sure that we have prioritized and balanced. There's times to engage the world and there's times to work through government or politics to achieve something. But we can't make that our God, and I see a lot of people making that their God these days, and that's a comfort zone that you have to say. You know what, whoever wins that election, god is still my leader and Jesus is still my savior. Come on.

Cecil:

That's what I have to follow in, whatever I live under. You know, there's a great story in the book. I'm thinking about this. That is about how the Pope went behind the Iron Curtain to speak to people living under communism and he didn't tell them you're there to overthrow communism. He said you're there and the Holy Spirit is with you and that's who you should follow above all else, no matter what is atop that in the world, matter what is atop that you know in the world. So I think that there's this. When we talk about making the leap, sometimes we need to know where we're going from, to know where we're going to. So if we realize that we have had these comfort zones and that we have made other things too important and what we're following on our own terms, then it's a little easier to be clear, as the Spirit speaks to us about what we need to go to, what we have to relinquish, what we have to let loose from our hands in order to go where he wants us to go.

Lyvita:

Yeah, yeah. So, saint, there's a tool that you can use that will help you with getting an understanding of where you are in this comfort zone If you made the leap to the trust zone and what's happening in your life. There's a tool that you can use that we often overlook, and that tool is journaling. When you start writing down what's occurring in your life, or writing down just the highlights that God has shown you for that day, writing down what you're grateful for for that day, writing down the surprises that God has, what God has shown up. These are things that you can use to help you make a leap and help you when you say, okay, god, I got to trust you again for something else, but I just need to remember, okay, lord, I'm going back in my journal. I see that, oh, yeah, yeah, you did that. Okay, good, I remember when you did oh, yes, lord, I really remember that because I was crying and crying and you just, oh, thank you Lord.

Lyvita:

So so, saints, remember, if you have, if you don't journal, please start. I'm telling you that's a blessing and so there's enough. Another thought that hit my mind was the blessing jar, and that's also where you can write down all the wonderful things that God has said on a sticky note and you put it in a jar. So whenever you're feeling bad, you just open up that blessing jar, dump the stuff out and just start oh yes, lord, I remember, oh yeah, and that's another way of just helping you to remember how blessed you are and that Leaving that comfort zone it's okay Because you've done it before, you know, cecil, because the next step isn't that going from comfort to trust zone, the next step.

Cecil:

It's the next thing right in front of us. Well, you know, I have a friend who just stuck this in my mind. I've used it, I think, in multiple books, but he talks about how we get spiritual amnesia, get the great things God has done in the past. I mean, I get this attitude where I say, well, lord, you've gotten me through a lot of things, but this one is too big for you. That's crazy. He proves over and over that. That's a crazy thing.

Cecil:

You know, I wrote a devotion recently, actually, about how there's a difference between pride and despair. Pride is when you don't think you need God in order to do something I'm going to do this one on my own, I don't need you and despair is when you think God can't do anything about the situation and so you just fall into depression because you know it's hopeless. We need to go right down that middle path, the narrow path between being prideful and being desperate, of knowing that the situation is too big for us but it's not too big for God, and we take leaps of faith because we have the best support system ever and we believe that we're acting according to God's will.

Lyvita:

Yeah, yeah, we do. We had the Holy Spirit, jesus and the Word of God. That's right, yes, yes, wow. Is there a specific quote or a section of the book that you'd like to share with the listeners, or some last words?

Cecil:

You know one character, if you want to call it that, because it's a person out of the Bible, but one character in the book that I just love the story because people don't know it is the disciple Thaddeus, and he was one of those who really believed in a political solution. He was one of the disciples there were four of them who were zealots and they wanted to overthrow the Romans and the Herodians and they thought Jesus was a political messiah that they could hitch their wagon to and they go through everything with him. And it doesn't happen. And at the Last Supper he asked Jesus why are you not revealing yourself as a powerful political messiah? Why are you only making yourself known to us? Why aren't you coming out to the world? And Jesus gives him this really curious answer that basically says the Father and I are primarily interested in changing hearts and living in hearts. Like that, stuff isn't even important to me, thaddeus. And so Thaddeus must have still been puzzled.

Cecil:

But after the resurrection, things started making sense to him, and so, instead of finding another political savior, thaddeus went all in in establishing his savior's new church. Instead of combating the government any longer, thaddeus was in charge of caring for widows Instead of dying gloriously for some revolution. Thaddeus was martyred for the sake of Christ, and today Thaddeus is known to us by another name. He went by Judas or Jude, saint Jude yes, the hospital is named after him, the patron saint of lost causes. And Thaddeus lost his cause his political cause, so to speak and found a new cause as he followed his savior. I just love that story and love how Thaddeus is this little known disciple, but he goes on a journey that we all should go on known disciple.

Lyvita:

but he goes on a journey that we all should go on, yeah. And then he found an adventure that was something that he never imagined and it gave him joy.

Cecil:

That's right.

Lyvita:

You know, saints, following Christ is not about the glory. It's about helping others and enjoying what you do. We need each other, we need to help each other and I pray that this episode is helping you see the importance of coming out of where you are so peacefully, happy and secure and, oh, I can't move because, oh, I don't want to change or, oh, I'm scared to go. I hope we're getting you to open your eyes to see that when you put your trust in Jesus, it's going to be glorious. Glorious. You're holding back something that needs to come out of you. That is just. That is wonderful. But you have no idea what it is. But it's still waiting to just explode, to explode. Oh, I told you, I'm sorry. I'm sorry, I told you, I told you in the beginning your books are hitting home.

Lyvita:

I love that they are. I want you to tell the listeners where they can find you, and all that. But before you do that, I noticed that you put on the back of the book a quote. At the end you were saying that you were grateful for your official reviewers and endorsers.

Cecil:

I am. I was so blessed to have you and others who endorsed the book and gave some credibility to it and said nice things about it.

Lyvita:

I really appreciate that. Help people to come out of the muck and admire and join Jesus in advancing the gospel. You know I'm just praying. A lot come out of you brother, thank you.

Cecil:

I feel a beam of sunshine when you say that. Thank you so much.

Lyvita:

So where can everybody find you?

Cecil:

Yeah, the best place to start is CecilTaylorMinistriescom. Ceciltaylorministriescom, and on there you can find, first of all, a lot of just free stuff that'll help your day. There's blogs. I run a podcast also. In fact, levita's going to be on it. You can find her on there as well as one of my guests. But the other thing I have there is where you can have a jumping off place to get my books or even, if you want, to go to Amazon and buy them over there.

Cecil:

I also have videos. That is really close to my heart, because these are for small groups at your church or in your study in your home. So every book comes with a video also, or is done at the same time as a video. I should say it that way, and so you could watch the video and discuss that and then afterward be able to have the book to review it and remember it and reinforce it. If you want to follow me on Facebook, you can find me there at Cecil Taylor Ministries. So I think it's facebookcom slash Cecil Taylor Ministries you can find me. I'm also on LinkedIn and I do things on there as well. If you look up Cecil Taylor on LinkedIn, those are the main on there as well. If you look up Cecil Taylor on LinkedIn, those are the main places to find me, I guess.

Lyvita:

When is our episode coming out?

Cecil:

Well, actually the current podcast on my site, as people are listening to this with Levita and she is the first guest I have for a new season of my podcast called Practical Faith Academy. I wanted to bring on other people alongside me because I'm always talking about putting your faith into practice. I wanted people's history, ideas and stories about putting faith into practice, so I have a number of people lined up. I have some really interesting guests, including one that is just your average common guy that had something happen that made him go viral on Facebook and got him to a point of talking about his faith, even though he's just a guy. So it's a marvelous.

Cecil:

I've already recorded the podcast that one's coming out in June. I'm really excited for the different people who are coming on, who are going to bless people with their stories, and you can find those podcasts by going to ceasletaylorministriescom slash free dash content or you can find the free content tab at the beginning of the page and just go from there. There you can leap to your favorite platform at the beginning of the page and it just go from there and there you can leap to your favorite platform like Odyssey or Apple or wherever you get your podcasts.

Lyvita:

All right, I'm going to put that in the show notes as well. So, cecil, this has been a blessing. I believe the Saints got something from me. Make your comments, support at TheMeProjectAcademycom how this episode has truly blessed you. Cecil, can you praise out?

Cecil:

I would love to LaVita. Let's bow to God. Lord, we praise you for your plans for us and how you sent your Holy Spirit to guide us each day. Help us to listen so we can allow the Spirit to guide our action and our inaction, our times to leap into the trust zone, our times when you want us to stay back longer in a comfort zone before going. We bow to your wisdom and ask to be rich in spiritual treasures that you bless us with. Reveal to us when a comfort zone is damaging or limiting, and inspire us to take risks for your kingdom, as we rely on you in the trust zone and just use us for your kingdom and for your glory, wherever you put us at any point in our lives. I want to ask your special blessings on those who are listening today, that something happened today that they can take away to follow you more closely and to find that soil in which faith grows. In your most precious name we pray.

Lyvita:

Amen. Do what God's called you to do. All this and more can be found, including my contact information, on HangingOutWithJesusPodcastcom or the show notes. So until we meet again on the airwaves, intentionally and daily hang out with Jesus Shalom.