Chase Your Calling

What kind of person decides to preach their first sermon out of Revelation? A ten-year-old girl with a dream of telling people about Jesus, that’s who. I grew up surrounded by a church culture that believes women don’t belong in the pulpit, yet my parents made room for exploration. That’s why, after years of practicing on my Barbie dolls and stuffed animals, I invited the entire neighborhood to our home for a church service. I didn’t know about house churches or revivals, gender roles or skeptics. All I knew was Jesus gave me something to say, and I couldn’t hold it in.

I prepared meticulously: printing flyers and handing them out, securing worship music from the saxophone player next door, and outlining my message. And you’ll never guess what happened. People came. Our living room was filled with neighbors and family members, some of whom didn’t care an ounce about Jesus. They just came to hear a cute kid put on a show. What they got was a bold and passionate message about the love of God.

I’ve often heard people say you should remember the things you did as a child in order to trace your destiny as an adult. This is what I was doing: preaching.

But something happened along the way. As I got older, I realized that women weren’t always afforded a place to proclaim God’s word. We are welcomed in the nursery, on hospitality teams, and in the choir, but not necessarily in the pulpit. I got tired of the advocating, the positioning, the convincing, and everything else it takes for a woman to be taken seriously in ministry.

I felt like I was the furthest place from living out my calling, and that’s exactly when God showed up.

The same thing happened to the Israelites. They escaped captivity in Egypt and were traveling with the dream of a promised land to call home. In Exodus 19, about two months after leaving Egypt, they arrived at Mount Sinai. It’s here, at the base of a mountain, that God showed up. Deep thunder roared as lightening cracked across the sky and God descended in the form of fire and a billowing cloud of smoke. It’s here, at the furthest geographical point away from the promised land, that God met with his people.

Wilderness wandering is not a life sentence; it’s a precursor to the presence of God. That’s what I found out. Just when I was about to throw in the towel, God reignited a fire of passion in my heart. It started small, with three friends at a local coffee shop. We met weekly as I taught them how to study the bible on their own. No devotionals, no sermon series, no commentaries. Week after week, God reminded me of the bigger picture – that no one can thwart his plans for me. He showed up right before I gave up.

How is God showing up in your life today? Is there a passion that he is calling you to pursue?