I had always kind of been the person that kept most things to myself, especially when it came to my values and beliefs. My comfort zone is relatively small, and I don’t like to leave it often. That has started to progressively change as I have opened my life more and more to God and asked Him to help me overcome this so that I may do more work for His Kingdom.

I spent my first two years of college at Wayne State College in Nebraska, which was a very challenging two years of my life. I made a decision this spring to transfer to Bethel University for the Fall of 2016. During the summer of this transition from Wayne State College to Bethel University, I prayed a lot about God using me and asked Him to give me ways to share my faith with others, something that in the past has been hard for me to do to people I am not close with. Throughout the summer, I saw Him opening so many doors for me with this. He put so many people in my life that I was able to instantly share my experiences with and connect to on such a deep spiritual level, something I didn’t think I had the capacity to do.

Just before I was going to start at Bethel, I had a short little story I had written about a God sighting I had (which happens to be my first article on Odyssey), and I wanted to post it on Facebook. Because it was relatively long, I didn’t really want to post it directly as a status. I had seen a couple people use Odyssey to post articles, and it seemed like a convenient way to post something like what I had written.

I made an account, and it prompted me to sign up in my community. I saw Bethel, so I clicked on it and submitted a request to join. I had no idea how it worked; I thought I would just get an email saying my request was accepted and then I’d be able to post articles as I pleased. Turned out I was very wrong.

I got an email from the Editor in Chief for Bethel’s Odyssey team, asking me to send her a writing sample by 8 p.m. “What in the world have I gotten myself into,” I thought to myself. It turned out it wasn’t just a post when you feel like it type thing; you are supposed to write an article once a week. I ignored the email, thinking she would just leave me alone and I wouldn’t have to do this. The next day she sent me a text yet again asking me to send her a writing sample. I thought it would maybe be a kind gesture if I at least acknowledged her this time. So I texted her back and explained that this was all a mistake and I didn’t mean to sign up. I told her I was far from being a writer. I can picture God just laughing at this thinking, “Yeah, that’s what you think. You asked for this.” She told me I didn’t have to be a writer to do this and that she really thought I should do it.

After a lot of convincing and talking it over with the Man upstairs, God made it clear to me that this was actually an answer to my prayers. Part of me really didn’t want to do it, but the other part of me knew it was exactly what I was supposed to do. I asked God to give me ways to share my faith with others, and that is precisely what He gave me.

I worried that I wouldn’t have enough time to write these articles while being a biochemistry major and playing on the basketball team. I worried I would have writer’s block already the second week and it would never go away. But I stepped back and God told me, “If I am asking you to do this, I will provide you with plenty of things to write about.” As for the time part, I may be on my own for that one.

The first night after I told the Editor I would be a part of the team, I couldn’t sleep because I had so many ideas for articles rushing to my head. I felt so overjoyed and I got out of bed at 1 a.m. to write an article for the following week before the idea could escape me. Maybe there is a little writer in me after all.

The point is, we should not be scared to ask God for things out of our comfort zone. In fact, I encourage you to pray for God to use you. To use you in ways you didn’t know you could be used. Our job is to bring glory to His Kingdom, and we can’t do that standing in a little comfort zone that goes no further than our own feet. When God answered my prayer by giving me something out of my comfort zone, it wasn’t long before He provided me with peace and comfort when I asked for that too. In Matthew 7:7 God says, “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.” I encourage you to think about what you can ask Him that will not only bring glory to you, but glory to God and His Kingdom.