I think sometimes we have made following Jesus way too comfortable. We like plans. We like schedules. We like knowing what’s coming next. We like ministry when it fits neatly into the spaces we’ve already created for it.
But the longer I’ve been involved in missions, the more I’ve realized that the Gospel rarely works that way.
The Gospel rarely asks, “Is this comfortable?” It asks whether we’re willing.
Some of the greatest things I’ve watched God do on the mission field happened outside of what was convenient, predictable, or easy. They happened when we went somewhere we’d never been, sat with people we didn’t know, walked into communities that were different from our own, or simply said yes without knowing exactly how it would turn out. That’s one of the things living and serving overseas has taught me. Mission work will stretch you.
There are language barriers, cultural differences, changed plans, long drives, and days when nothing goes according to plan. There are moments when you feel completely out of place and moments when you quietly wonder whether any of it is really making a difference at all. And then God reminds you why you’re there.
You sit across from someone and hear their story. You watch a young person begin asking honest questions about Jesus. A family opens their home. Someone you’ve poured into begins to pour into someone else. The uncomfortable part no longer feels like the main thing.
Comfort has never been the goal of the Gospel. Jesus never called His followers to build their lives around what was easiest. He called them to follow Him. And following usually involves movement.
Sometimes that movement takes you across an ocean. Sometimes it takes you across the street. That’s where I think we sometimes misunderstand missions. We hear the word missions and immediately picture another country, another culture, or someone boarding an airplane. And yes, sometimes missions looks exactly like that. Our family has experienced that firsthand.
But living on mission doesn’t begin at the airport.
It begins with availability.
The same willingness it takes to cross an ocean is the willingness it takes to walk across the street and have a real conversation with a neighbor, to notice the person others walk past, or to make room in your life for people who don’t think, live, or struggle like you do. That, too, is missions. You don’t have to move overseas to live sent. But you do have to be willing to be uncomfortable.
So maybe the question isn’t whether you’re called to missions. Maybe the better question is: Where is God asking you to step?
What is the thing you’ve been avoiding because it feels inconvenient, unfamiliar, or uncomfortable? Who is the person God keeps putting in front of you? What opportunity have you been hesitating to say yes to because you don’t know exactly how it will turn out? You may not have all the answers before you move.
Most of the time, you won’t.
But obedience has never required us to see the entire road before taking the next step. Sometimes faith is simply saying, “Yes, Lord,” and trusting Him with what comes after that.
The Gospel was never meant to stay comfortable.
It was meant to move.
And it still does.