When the Next Step Looks Like the First Step

When I became a Christian, I was called. I loved God because he first loved me. I would not have chosen to follow him without first hearing his voice. I was perpetually resistant before he first softened my heart. God opened a door to himself that I had, by nature, overlooked but could no longer ignore. When I became a Christian, I was called.

When I became a Christian, I saw. God had been working in my life for this moment all along. He had been shaping me, even in my rebellion. He had been preparing me, even in my apathy. God’s hand was on my life, his arms ever-embracing me. When I became a Christian, I saw.

When I became a Christian, I trusted. I did not know the answers and I did not know the future, but I knew the one who did. While sinking in the ocean I reached out to take the hand of he who stood above the waves. The door was opened and I walked through. The Rock was revealed and I leaned against it. When I became a Christian, I trusted.

This was God’s call on my life many years ago.

It was also my struggle to uncover God’s immediate will for me over the past year. It was my decision to enter vocational ministry. It was me reliving my conversion all over again.

God called me. I saw. And I trusted.

While I had always loved student ministry, I knew it would take a special work of God to bring me into vocational student ministry. Although I was open to the idea, I was resistant in taking those steps – for a variety of reasons. However, this past year, God called me in ways that I could no longer deny. He opened doors for me that I could no longer ignore. As I wrestled with the decision to walk through these doors, he opened my eyes to see. God had been preparing me the whole time. A past that seemed so unrelated I soon recognized was shaping me for this opportunity. The next step was the same as the first step. I trusted. If God had called me and God had prepared me, I realized that I could trust him. The door was open and I walked through, not knowing what the future would hold but trusting the one who holds it.

I still do not know what the future will hold and I do not know how long this season of vocational ministry will last (Lord willing, it will be a very long one!). However, I am excited for the opportunity. I am excited to use the gifts and abilities that God has given me. Most of all, I am excited to be a simple witness to what God is going to do in our students, our church, and our community.

I thank God for the way that he worked in my life many years ago when I took the first step towards him and became a Christian. And I thank God for the way that he continued to work, in the same way, as I took another step over the past year. Following Jesus is not a one-time decision, but one that God works together in our lives through the Holy Spirit each and every day.

Every step the same, but each one taking us further along the in the journey.

I pray that you will join me in this never-ending journey of being called, seeing, and trusting.