This summer there will be a group of college students who will spend six weeks in Cincinnati as a part of the Gen Send Summer program. Gen Send is an immersive missionary experience that places college students in cities across America for 6 or 8 weeks during the summer.
Serving as a city coach, I get to help recruit and build the team that will serve in Cincinnati. I have thoroughly enjoyed the interviewing process because I get to hear about God’s activity in the lives of students who have said “yes” to giving their summer to God’s mission and are in the process of discovering where it will be.
A meaningful reflection of Jesus happens as we extend beyond our zones of comfort.
A common thread among the students on the Cincinnati team is a desire to put themselves into a context that is uncomfortable. Almost every student said they picked Cincinnati, because they wanted to go to a location where the culture is different from their “normal.” Many picked Gen Send as their summer plan because they wanted to put themselves in a situation that forced them to fully depend upon God.
May we all take a lesson from these students and step into the uncomfortable!
TWO THOUGHTS
1. Being Uncomfortable Breeds Dependence
We are made to be dependent. In Matthew 5:3, Jesus said you will flourish as you live poor in spirit, which is a picture of being a spiritual beggar, who is fully dependent upon God.Many of us run away from situations that make us rely completely on God and here are college students running towards it.
2. Full dependence means we get the full expression of God.
Stepping into situations beyond our level of comfort means we are in situations that we can’t conquer on our own. Complete dependence upon God clears the stage for Him to star in the story. We play the background and watch God do what only God can do.
Where we live in Cincinnati, we were in 99% totality for the solar eclipse this past Monday. But to get into the 100% path of totality, we only had to drive 30 minutes west. The difference between 99% and 100% is the light of ten thousand moons. The difference of experience between almost total and total is bigger than you would think.
The same is true for being mostly dependent upon God and fully dependent upon Him. And for most of us, it will require stepping in to the zone of discomfort before we fully rely upon Him, which then clears the stage for a display that will be just as beautiful as a total eclipse of the sun.
What zone of discomfort do you need to step into?
Photo by TopSphere Media on Unsplash