This morning Nelson and I set off for the airport by 5:25 AM where he once again boarded a plane back to Youth With A Mission, this time in Montana . As we drove through the dark we enjoyed talking, knowing we wouldn’t have another face-to-face conversation until Christmas.

This morning’s exchange of ideas centered on our usual: God and how he does things. Nelson is facing a new teaching position that has him working diligently on complicated preparations. None of it is easy, and he vacillates between excitement and concern. I know he’ll do an excellent job, but that’s easy for me to say; I’m not in the hot seat.

Yesterday, though, I experienced a similar leap of stress when an email arrived from my publisher describing an assignment he thinks I should take: a webinar on handling grief. My only response was, “What’s a webinar?”

[It’s a seminar online that lets participants see and hear the presenter(s) as they answer interview questions or conduct discussions. By way of the internet, listeners interested in the topic can participate live, if they wish.]

Not only is this foreign to me, it’s scary. My contact assured me I didn’t need to be an expert on grief in general, just on my own grief experience. The goal will be to encourage people who are struggling with sorrow, letting them know they’ll be able to move forward again one day with fresh joy in their lives.

Of course that purpose is valuable, just like Nelson’s teaching is, but for both of us these new challenges are intimidating. It would be easier to dwell in a “comfort zone” and stick with that as the ongoing status quo. Learning new skills and conquering feelings of inadequacy can really take it out of a person.

But as Nelson and I talked this morning, the bottom line always has to be, “What does God want us to do?” If any request comes because he sent it, a “yes” is the only good answer. We ought to acknowledge our own shortfalls and then quickly melt into his capability, knowing that’s the only way these challenging tasks can ever get done well.

Maybe that’s the reason God asks us to do hard things in the first place. He isn’t about setting us in places of comfort or ease but prefers we stretch and grow, not as much for our own benefit as for someone else’s. There’s another possibility, too. The current “new thing” he asks us to do may simply be his chosen way to lead us on to something else, i.e. Step A toward his Step B.

Or C.  Or D.  Such a thought is unnerving.

But Nelson said yes, and I did too, so we’re both off and running….  straight to God.

“Be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” (Romans 12:2)