Hudson Taylor faced many hard situations in his endeavor to win China for Christ. He counted three phases in most great tasks undertaken for God – impossible, difficult, done.

Monday night I attended an art class, which is completely out of my comfort zone. I am not artistic or creative and it stretches me to use that part of my brain. But I wanted to step out of my comfort zone and do something that would challenge me in a new way.

As we began the class, there were moments I listened to the instructor and thought, “There’s no way I can do that. It’s impossible.” But I picked up the brush, dabbed it in paint, and gently touched the canvas with it. My attitude slowly, but surely, changed from “it’s impossible” to “it’s not impossible; just difficult.” And I kept painting.

I tried fixing my mistakes and asked for feedback from my instructor and fellow classmates. I actually begin to enjoy the process instead of being so tense and overwhelmed by the task at hand. Finally, I finished the painting and proudly signed my name in the bottom corner.

I loved the end result. Was it perfect? No. Would it ever be sought after by art buyers? No. But I was holding a finished product that a few hours earlier I had thought was impossible.

Impossible. Difficult. Done. I could have quit in the “impossible” stage – put down my brush and surrendered to the thoughts, “There is no way I can do that.” But I didn’t, thanks to the group of girls around me and the instructor. They spurred me on and gave me confidence and encouragement. “You can do this! That looks good. Keep going! You’re almost done.” I wouldn’t have finished had I been doing it alone.

The Christian life is going to have challenges and situations that will stretch us and take us out of our comfort zones. The situation will seem impossible at first, but if we step out in faith and move forward, we will eventually see that it’s not impossible, just difficult. We keep going and trust God’s leading, and finally, we will be able to say, done.

How does God want to stretch you today? Is He asking you to do something that will take you out of your comfort zone? Step out in faith. Walk through Hudson Taylor’s three phases of difficult tasks: Impossible. Difficult. Done. The end result will be worth it.