When God Took Me Out of MY Comfort Zone

For as long as I can remember, I was the kind of daughter that wanted to be “good”. I never wanted to hurt anyone or bother anyone. Sure, there were times with peers at school where I reacted if I felt someone was intentionally hurting me. But overall, I always strived to be simply be “good” and remain in the background.

I remember one day as a teen going home. My friend was driving me home after one of our choir rehearsals and as the radio was on I heard the DJ say “If you could ask God for anything, what would it be?  If only you would ask Him and believe He could do it, what would you ask Him for?” For whatever reason, that particular day, that just stuck with me. If I were to ask God anything in the world, what would I ask Him for? I remember laying in bed and then laughing to myself. I said “okay God. This is how I know it’s you and ONLY YOU. If you were to have me sing a solo, then I know it’s you.” Now mind you, I am shy. I don’t like to be the center of attention and I am a choir girl through and through. Love the alto section – but altos in my time growing up never had a solo part. So here I am, thinking I tripped God up for a little. Well, will you believe that the following week, my youth pastor approached me and said “Jackie, I have been praying about who to give the solo of this next song we are working on to. I told God that there were two people I had in mind and to bring the one He wanted to do it to our choir rehearsal tonight. And guess what? The other person isn’t here tonight so I know it has to be yours.” My jaw hit the floor. I don’t remember how I responded…maybe I just nodded my head with my mouth open. But, man. I was so, so, so, shocked. And you know what, that prayer, and in turn answered prayer, were the beginning of so many joyful moments I now have in leading worship. Who would have thought that my innocent question would lead me to one of my greatest joys. But it meant I had to step out of my comfort zone. I couldn’t hide in the background anymore. No matter how much I wanted to just not be noticed or seen, God had other plans.

Now, I pose that same question to you: if there was something you could ask God for, what would it be? What do you need faith believing God for? If you were to only ask, God would open the doors, so much so that there would be an overflow of blessing for you. A lot of us however stop at the fear or the “ridiculousness” of our request – but know that with God there is nothing that is impossible. God will use it all for good and I know that if we choose to simply trust Him and His leading, there will be much more room for joy in our lives. No more worry. No more depression. No more inadequacy. Just joy because we know that God has us.