I don’t take on physical challenges because I am not athletic, although I don’t mind jumping
into a project that will use some talent God has given me. I am very uncomfortable in strange
(to me) circumstances and enjoy staying in my cozy comfort zone.
So if you were to invite me to a day of shopping for antiques I’d say no because it is out of my league and my interests – or is it? Well, I’ve never tried it, so I don’t really know. The picture in my head is of trudging
around behind someone in dark smelly corners of barns.
But if I thought God was telling me antiquing was something I needed to learn to further His kingdom or to touch someone’s soul, I hope I would step up to the challenge and do it.
So, how many things are out of my comfort zone? Quite a few, for sure. God sometimes asks me to “step out in faith” to do something I may not like at first, but because I trust God I
know He has good in it for me, and I assume it will benefit His kingdom.
It may be something I need to learn or that will grow me or those near me in our faith. I’ve even struggled through books that I normally would not choose because I felt God wanted me to understand more about a subject.
All this to say I have a friend who – almost accidentally – ended up volunteering to pray outside a mobile ultrasound unit across the street from a clinic that performs counseling and abortions. That is really derring-do from my aspect.
It is an interesting story because Toni is a nurse and thought she might help out in one of the offices of Options for Her in Trenton, so she signed up for a class, and that is when she realized the class was geared toward those who want to pray for and counsel moms-to-be standing outside of the mobile unit.
She could have opted out at any time. She didn’t have to sign up for a date and location, but
instead she stepped out in faith, believing that it was no accident that she was in that class –
believing that God must have designed it so that she was there.
My friend has lots to offer, as she was a public health nurse for years. She has seen it all – even the worst of it. She loves Jesus and loves to help others and is the most outgoing person I know. What a more perfect place for her could there be than to volunteer in this position. Other than shaking off the fear of the unknown, she thought why not, at least try it for one time after she had gone this far.
Well, she did. I haven’t heard the entire story, but she is committed to going again. Toni is learning the nuances of speaking to those who are troubled and offering prayer to them. I am so impressed with her efforts to go where God is leading her – even with fear and trembling that has now been conquered.
She was aided in her learning on her first day by wonderful volunteers from Catholic sisters in Christ, who apparently keep an active daily schedule of assisting in this ongoing ministry. There is nothing that teaches as well as watching an experienced mentor at work.
I promised to keep her in prayer the entire first morning, and I texted her so that she knew prayers were being offered for wisdom and the Holy Spirit’s leading even as she was learning the job and praying herself. From chatting with her while she drove home on her first day, I could feel the excitement she had of honoring God despite her jitters.
She surely will be a marvelous asset to this ministry. She has every qualification anyone could desire, including her love for Jesus – and she willingly stepped out of her comfort zone with faith.
So, what do you think God might be asking you or me to do for Him that would possibly use the resume He has already provided in our lives? I can hardly wait to see or hear, because I know that every time I have obeyed His call to move out in a certain direction when I obey, I have been blessed beyond anything I could have imagined.
I have wondered about the blessings I missed by not listening to God’s call on my life sooner,
but scripture tells me that He will redeem those lost opportunities when I repent and follow
Him.
What a wonderful God we serve, because our service brings us joy that only He can provide.
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