Following His Calling

In order for us to graduate high school at Mount Calvary, we have to do a job shadow and then create a presentation on how it went and basically describe the day and the job that we shadowed. Me being the lazy person that I am, I waited until now to do it. Which means that I cannot do an actual job shadow, however I can do a phone interview instead. Although one would say, “Jack, you’re lazy, you would’ve been better off doing it on time”, I would argue that, although that may be true, I’m convinced that it worked out better than it would have if I would have done it on time. Why? Well, because in my scrambling, trying hurry and find a person to interview before the deadline of this project, I got a little desperate. Creative...but desperate. I decided to reach out to Churchome and see if there was any way I could get an interview with my favorite preacher, Pastor Judah Smith. Unfortunately, as I assumed would happen, Judah wasn’t available; however Churchome’s Youth Pastor Shaddye Melu was. When I got this email, I decided to continue to pursue this opportunity that I asked for in the first place, but only because I was desperate. If it were four months ago at this time, I probably would have looked elsewhere for a job shadow. GOD HAD DIFFERENT PLANS. If you’re close enough to know my future plans, then you’d scare me because frankly, I don’t even know what I want to do. However, I have had some ideas floating around for the past few years. Headlining those ideas would be pastoral ministries. Pastoral ministries is something I’ve always had a heart for, but quickly told myself, “are you kidding me, Jack?! You do NOT have the Spiritual gift of preaching. You wouldn’t make a good preacher, but it’s okay because God has something different in store.” It’s just been something that I’ve been wrestling with for the past couple of years, as I viewed myself as “unqualified” to preach. And boy was I lying to myself. At the end of the phone call with Pastor Shaddye, I had asked him if I could pray for him and he returned the favor. I began to open up on how I’d been feeling insecure in my ability to do a certain job that I felt called towards and he told me something that I believe was straight from the Holy Spirit. I am going to paraphrase, but it went something like:

“Jack I can tell you have a heart for ministry, but you’re letting your imperfections hold you back. You're thinking that just because you may not have the gifts needed, that you're not going to be a good preacher. But let me remind you that preaching comes from the Holy Spirit, not your own gifts. On top of that, preaching and pastoring is a skill. It’s like shooting a basketball. If you don’t shoot for three months, then you’re not going to be a good shooter. But if you shoot basketball everyday for three months, then you’ll be a great shooter. It’s just like preaching and pastoring. Judah Smith wasn’t always this amazing preacher. He started off at a young age and over time, he excelled in that skill. You have to follow where God is calling you, and He will supply you with the skills you need to succeed in that calling.”

After he had told me this, I could feel my heart beating rapidly, and my pits started sweating like crazy. It just hit me. Like what?! Come on! I had never viewed preaching as something that you can grow and improve upon, like a skill. I find this especially crazy because in my last two blogs I wrote about how we, as Christians ought to be practicing to improve our Spiritual discernment and prophecy — which are both also Spiritual gifts like preaching. Now, I have no idea if preaching is something that I will actually be doing in ten years from now, but for now I am going to follow where He calls me. And right now, I feel called to pastoral ministries. In ten years from now, could I be a waste collector living in Philadelphia with a wife and two kids? Of course. I don’t know what God has in store for me, but I’m willing to follow where He is calling me right now and trust that He has me in the palms of His hands. Do I trust in my ability to preach and pastor? Not one bit. Do I trust that as long as I lean in to God, that He will guide me through it? Heck the heck yes.

So, what’s your point in this, Jack? It sounds like you’re just bragging about finding out what you want to do in the future. Well, my point in this is to inform my fellow high school, college, and even older friends to follow where God calls you right now. Don’t be like pre-May 7th Jack. If He gives you a heart for something, chase after that! If He puts a certain ministry on your heart, pursue that ministry! When Peter walked on water, he didn’t just think, “oh I’m going to walk on water” then step out of the boat. No no, he said, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water”. Then, Jesus tells him to “Come” and wuduyu know, Peter walks on water. I’m convinced that the moral of this story is to obey His calling, not your own. One could argue that if Peter was never told to step out of the boat, that he would sink right away if he did. I’m not going to say that, but it’s something to think about. If you feel as though maybe God is putting it on your heart to “step out of the boat”, then ask Him! Talk to Him about it. If it is His will for you then He will call you. And if God promises that He never leaves us nor forsakes us, then why would we worry about taking that step of faith? If God is truly God, then let Him be God. Take that step and let Him direct your paths and walk by your side, leading you each step of the way.

-Jack Hilsher

“If God is God, let God be God” -Judah Smith

(Read that again^)