Looking Back

I got an email last week from someone that I was introduced to through a mutual friend. This guy is feeling that God has something different in store for him and is trying to figure out what it might be and how to know if it is really God putting these things on his heart or not. We were introduced because our mutual friend knew my story of becoming a pastor and felt that the journey started in a similar fashion and thought that I might be able to help this other friend of his. I agreed to help in whatever way I could so that resulted in the email I received last week.

Do you ever look back over your life or periods of your life and see the areas where God has been working? Some of those areas are probably fairly easy to spot and some are probably a little more hidden. Often times though, you don't really see what God is doing as he is doing it but instead you see if when you look back at it later on. That's kind of what happened for me as I tried to answer the questions in the email. I had to look back over the last several years as I explained the process of how I went from a guy in the corporate world to an Associate Pastor. As I looked back I could see the times and places where God was preparing me for His plan. There were various points along the way where I thought I knew His plan but it turns out what He wanted was something different. That is pretty common in my life, I think I know the plan but soon find out that I was wrong. God is never wrong! He never wastes anything!

I don't know how helpful I was in my response to the questions I received, afterall, everyone's journey is different, but, I'd like to end this post the same way I ended my email, hopefully it will be helpful to you; "Listen to what God is saying to you and pursue Him and whatever He is calling you to as best as you can, especially if it is pulling you out of your comfort zone. It is only when we are stretched that we can truly grow and only when we give up control that we can truly follow."