So, this is what it feels like to be fish food…
In 12 years of being a youth and worship pastor, and then eventually an interim pastor, I have probably read the story of Jonah and the whale at least 100 times. I’m sure you’ve heard it, but just in case, here’s the short version.
- Jonah is called by God to prophecy to Ninevah, one of the biggest and most evil cities of his time.
- Jonah ran and tried to escape by ship.
- God made a storm come and since Jonah knew he had cursed the trip, he told the crew to throw him overboard.
- God made a whale swallow him.
- The whale spit him up on dry land.
- Jonah went to Ninevah exactly like God intended.
In 2010, when I stopped working for churches and settled quite comfortably into my role as a pew warmer, I was Jonah pure and simple. I’ve been called by God to be a minister since I was 16 years old. I have worked for churches in 4 different states and loved being in ministry. Then in 2010 I decided I was done and moved home, started teaching full time, and ignored my calling.
God tried MANY times to get my attention. He used people, circumstance, and His word to show me many times than it was and is His intention that I bring the good news of the gospel to a fallen world. And for 9 years, every time I felt that tug back to preaching, I ran the other direction, either focusing on teaching, my family, or some other endeavor.
I have told many people that in so many ways, the last 9 years have been one huge disaster after another. My divorce, losing jobs, suffering from and then conquering a gambling problem, my finances being a shamble…. the list goes on and on. And not only was it threatening to take me down, but also take down those around me. I thought my world was over, but all that had happened was I was in the belly of the whale. God was preparing me. God was holding my hand and waiting for me to simply follow my own advice and turn and run to Him so that He could put me EXACTLY WHERE I NEED TO BE.
Then, January 19th happened and I felt what it meant to be to meet someone who was created by God just for me. A person whom from the very first conversation we ever had showed a love for God, a love for family, and a desire to have a committed married relationship with Christ at the center. And did I mention she is GORGEOUS!!!!!!!
We fell in love quickly and COMPLETELY. She builds me up and challenges me. She encourages me and humbles me. She prays for me and more importantly prays with me.
February 1st, I lost my teaching job that I have had for 12 years. I was a divorced father of two with astoundingly large amounts of debt and now had no consistent reliable sources of income. I prayed that if God was trying to get me to go back into ministry, for him to make it abundantly clear. The minute I said “Amen” my phone dinged with an email alert regarding a pastoral job opening right across the river.
And the greatest thing she did was when I looked at her and said, “So, you think you could ever be a Pastor’s wife?” She did hesitate when she said, “Yes, and I will go with you anywhere you are called.” This was the final push I needed to really let God finally place me back where He always intended. I cannot wait to make her my wife some day soon.
On Sunday, May 5th, I was voted in as the new pastor at Friendship Ridge Christian Fellowship in Belpre, Ohio. While Belpre, Ohio isn’t the most evil place in the empire, it is nonetheless where I have been called to again preach the gospel to a lost and broken world.
The potential I felt in my spirit from the second I stepped foot on the property is something I have never experienced. I cannot wait to see what God has in store in my life and the lives of the congregation that has put their trust in me to guide them closer to a God that loves them.
Notice the beginning and ending of the Jonah story from earlier.
- Jonah is called by God to prophecy to Ninevah, one of the biggest and most evil cities of his time.
- Jonah went to Ninevah exactly like God intended.
How much of our lives is wasted by all the time we take on the stuff in the middle. When all we have to do is answer the call and go where He calls us, when He calls us, how He calls us.
Well I’ve spent enough time in the belly of the whale. I’ve spent enough time running. I’ve spent enough time pretending to be anything but a Pastor. I cannot wait to see what the Lord is going to do.
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