The Call
Several years ago Mike Bowling had a song "The Call". It was talking about his call to share the Gospel through song.. Being called to do something for the Lord is special, scary and uncertain. My call to the ministry was in fact uncertai,n scary and something I avoided for a long time.
Some people see themselves as Joyce Meyer or TD Jakes when they get the call to preach the gospel. They don't realize that it takes a while to reach that status, if you reach it at all. Some choose preaching as a profession, like you would choose to be a doctor or a chef. God chooses you. The thing I couldn't get over is why did God choose me. I was like Moses. Moses told the Lord he couldn't speak well, I told the Lord I couldn't see well. That was dumb, God made my eyes and made me the way He wanted me, He knows that. I didn't have any problem talking in front of people, God had prepared me for that long ago. When I was young I was painfully shy and my mom and my grandmother made sure that I had a "Speech" to say at every Christmas and Easter program at church. As I got older the poems got lomger. When I went to work in radio, I was behind the mike, but you do remotes and MC work at concerts, you plan events and you gain experience that way. I didn't need the spotlight. I had it.
I remember the first indication of a call back in 1985. I went to sleep one afternoon and I had a dream. It was about me standing in front of people. I don't remember all of the details, but when I woke up I felt that God was calling me to do something special for him. I later shared that with an individual who was a minister, who said I needed to fast and pray and then they proceeded to flirt with me. So the call kind of got put on the back burner. I also knew that I would have to leave the church that I was attending, because they didn't have women ministers. I wasn't ready to do that.
Life went on with the ebb and flow of things and I begin to date my high school sweetheart. He had been called to the ministry and I was helping him with his ministry. After a string of events, I broke up with him. The Lord told me again that I wasn't supposed to be running behind him carrying his Bible, that he had a work for me to do. By this time I was ready to leave the church I grow up in and I eventually left. The twist in the plot was where I was sent. I wasn't sent to a pentecostal church. I was sent to another Baptist church, but it was like a school. I needed some training in the teaching of Sunday School and I got it there. I knew that I would be there for a short time, but it was to get the training that I needed. I went to the "Heart Of God" church dedication and I was sitting there with my parents and the Lord said, its time to come back now. I eventually did not go to Heart of God, but to another church where I helped with Sunday School, children's church and a few other things. I could have stayed there and eventually answered the call. I got married.
I married Matt, at the time Matt was not saved. I knew this and when he offered to get baptized , just for appearences I said don't do that. The decision to come to the Lord is too personal and precious to play with . I just kept on plugging away hoping that he would get saved. He would encourage me to do what the Lord had for me to do. I was talking to my pastor and he tried to get me to come to the minister's meeting at the church, but I was too bashful to come. He started teaching a class for newly called ministers and I started to answer my call. The climax of what made me answer the call was while I was here recovering from my first eye surgery, there wasn't a lot I could do and the Lord and I talked a lot and I finally was obedient to answer His call.
It was and is a struggle. I am thankful to those who encourage me and mentor me. I am still very new in all of this. I am a teacher more than a preacher. People want to hear loud fiery preaching. I am not one of those. I love to teach the Word and exoplain the Word and share what the Lord has taught me.
Some people see themselves as Joyce Meyer or TD Jakes when they get the call to preach the gospel. They don't realize that it takes a while to reach that status, if you reach it at all. Some choose preaching as a profession, like you would choose to be a doctor or a chef. God chooses you. The thing I couldn't get over is why did God choose me. I was like Moses. Moses told the Lord he couldn't speak well, I told the Lord I couldn't see well. That was dumb, God made my eyes and made me the way He wanted me, He knows that. I didn't have any problem talking in front of people, God had prepared me for that long ago. When I was young I was painfully shy and my mom and my grandmother made sure that I had a "Speech" to say at every Christmas and Easter program at church. As I got older the poems got lomger. When I went to work in radio, I was behind the mike, but you do remotes and MC work at concerts, you plan events and you gain experience that way. I didn't need the spotlight. I had it.
I remember the first indication of a call back in 1985. I went to sleep one afternoon and I had a dream. It was about me standing in front of people. I don't remember all of the details, but when I woke up I felt that God was calling me to do something special for him. I later shared that with an individual who was a minister, who said I needed to fast and pray and then they proceeded to flirt with me. So the call kind of got put on the back burner. I also knew that I would have to leave the church that I was attending, because they didn't have women ministers. I wasn't ready to do that.
Life went on with the ebb and flow of things and I begin to date my high school sweetheart. He had been called to the ministry and I was helping him with his ministry. After a string of events, I broke up with him. The Lord told me again that I wasn't supposed to be running behind him carrying his Bible, that he had a work for me to do. By this time I was ready to leave the church I grow up in and I eventually left. The twist in the plot was where I was sent. I wasn't sent to a pentecostal church. I was sent to another Baptist church, but it was like a school. I needed some training in the teaching of Sunday School and I got it there. I knew that I would be there for a short time, but it was to get the training that I needed. I went to the "Heart Of God" church dedication and I was sitting there with my parents and the Lord said, its time to come back now. I eventually did not go to Heart of God, but to another church where I helped with Sunday School, children's church and a few other things. I could have stayed there and eventually answered the call. I got married.
I married Matt, at the time Matt was not saved. I knew this and when he offered to get baptized , just for appearences I said don't do that. The decision to come to the Lord is too personal and precious to play with . I just kept on plugging away hoping that he would get saved. He would encourage me to do what the Lord had for me to do. I was talking to my pastor and he tried to get me to come to the minister's meeting at the church, but I was too bashful to come. He started teaching a class for newly called ministers and I started to answer my call. The climax of what made me answer the call was while I was here recovering from my first eye surgery, there wasn't a lot I could do and the Lord and I talked a lot and I finally was obedient to answer His call.
It was and is a struggle. I am thankful to those who encourage me and mentor me. I am still very new in all of this. I am a teacher more than a preacher. People want to hear loud fiery preaching. I am not one of those. I love to teach the Word and exoplain the Word and share what the Lord has taught me.
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