113. Doing The Uncomfortable

As I’ve mentioned many times, I’m an introvert. That means I love being by myself and meeting people requires extra energy and motivation. So reading books alone is like heaven to me while going into social functions often feel likes a dreaded chore. My wife is pretty comfortable with these social settings but I feel pretty uncomfortable. That is why I’m usually the one tugging my wife to go home early.

For that reason, I have not been active in seeking connection with fellow pastors. There is a monthly pastor’s fellowship for English speaking pastors in Toronto. I have gone there a few times but stopped going. I told myself I needed to get more things done instead of going there but the real reason was I felt uncomfortable. I knew I needed that connection with fellows pastors but I simply didn’t go because it was more comfortable not going.

But I decided to go regularly coming back from my Research Month. So I went this month and had a great time getting to know new pastors. It was good to hear their stories and be heard. I’m planning to go regularly.

There was another presbytery meeting happened this week. I usually don’t enjoy going there simply because many pastors are way older than me and it is heavily Korean-context driven. And I heard that there will be fellowship time, playing “soccer volleyball”. (playing volleyball with feet, not hands) This is Korean traditional sports which I don’t play. But I still went and ended up having a lot more fun than I expected.

In life, we are faced with a lot of things we don’t feel comfortable doing. But many times doing those things help us to move forward. Sometimes it unlocks unexpected experience. We do not possess an ability to see through every opportunity and know the exact outcome. That is why many times it is premature to dismiss a person or an opportunity based on our assumptions. Often God leads us to an uncomfortable place or situation, where we need to do things we’ve never done before. But let’s get comfortable being uncomfortable because often growth happens while we are doing things we normally feel uncomfortable doing.