Stepping Confidently into Uncomfortable Obedience

I don’t think so, God. That’s not happening. I answered the Holy Spirit’s reminder He planted daily in my mind to inquire about foster care. I’m a mom of three, a teacher, I love Jesus—all signs pointed to yes! But I stalled because fostering could disrupt everything. The change for our family proved too big, too unknown, too everything in my mind. So instead of trusting and moving forward in obedience, all the what-ifs swirled, and I remained paralyzed in fear and doubt.

“We’re finally comfortable,” I told my friend, fighting back the voice that wouldn’t leave me alone on the topic. She left me with some powerful words: “We’re not called to be comfortable.”

Gulp.

I thought about her response for days—well, maybe weeks. Wondering if stepping into the hard world of fostering and sacrificing our family’s normalcy was worth whatever God had in store for us. Selfishly, I wondered whether it would be a good trade. Our comfort for His plan? Our ways for His?

The choice seemed too big until I realized I was way ahead of where God was calling me to be.

He’d asked me to obediently sign up for classes, not to worry about how it would all work out. I had heard His voice and created an entire plot in my mind that was full of worries and challenges, instead of focusing on what God had actually said, which was to sign up for classes. That’s it.

God wanted me to say yes and be faithful into the unknown one step at a time. He didn’t require or desire me to skip ahead to things for which I felt unprepared.

In John 14:23, Jesus spoke to His disciples about what life in community with God would look like: 

“Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them.”

According to this Scripture, if we love God, we will obey His teaching. We will follow what He calls us to do. And when we step in faith, we can be sure that our God will abide with us in the process.

For our family, this means He will be present, helping and guiding us through the fostering process—showing us what’s right for us and equipping us as a family as we say yes to each step. And our part is inviting Him in as we pave our footing with prayer, saying yes or no as He teaches us.

So I prayed one last time. Half hoping He’d change His mind, I asked God for clear confirmation that day: an email or communication from the agency I admired.

Ding! That afternoon, I received a text message from the foster care teacher wanting to chat about upcoming classes that would start the next week.

God may not always work so blatantly, but that’s what He knew I needed to take the first step of obedience in a challenging new direction.

I am not the exception. God wants to use us in big ways for our good and His glory. And usually that means pulling us out of our comfort zones and into uncomfortable obedience. He calls us to follow Him, entrusting each hard choice to Him, and moving on to the next knowing He’s with us the whole way.

What’s holding you back? What insecurity or “what-if” keeps you tethered from running freely into what you know God is calling you to do?

Here’s the great news: Obedience isn’t scary even if God’s ask is big. Giving up worldly comfort or security doesn’t compare to the peace that comes when you follow Jesus. Going where He leads actually brings us back to divine comfort because it means we’re under the will of the One who loves us and is for us. And so, we can step confidently, knowing where we’re going is exactly where God wants us.