I’m writing this reflection sitting in Charles De Gaulle Airport in Paris before one more flight to Barcelona and a few days of a retreat and talks with about fifty young men. The flight last night was deeply uncomfortable; cramped seats, insufficient air conditioning, and random cabin lights getting turned on and off contributed to a very restless and largely sleepless night. While it’s easy to remind ourselves we weren’t made for comfort, it can be hard to embrace this truth in actual moments of discomfort. It’s easier to remain comfortable, but very often our sense of personal comfort is confronted by Christ’s will for our lives—not just for personal growth in holiness, but for fruitfulness in mission. I’ve never met a fruitful and faithful missionary whose primary, secondary, or even tertiary concern was their own comfort.

I recognize that, in the grand scheme of things, a fitful night’s rest on the way to Europe is not a big deal. That’s all the more reason we need to keep our eyes fixed on Jesus and his will in our lives—so we don’t get distracted from what really matters. So, I sit here eating a croissant (delicious) and thanking God for the gift of being sent, the gift of knowing Him, and the gift of his invitation to embrace some measure of discomfort in the pursuit of obedience to his will.