You should have seen his face drop when I told him where I felt that my wife and I were called to do ministry. He was the national church planting director for a denomination and my wife and I were with several other couples at a church planter’s assessment. We have been called to serve in a rural county where many communities cannot support a full-time pastor. As we talked with him about these communities that we felt called to reach, phrases like “growth potential” and “financial feasibility” were thrown out as concerns about the denomination supporting the vision I had been given. I wasn’t surprised; I had almost expected it; but it still stung.
Some of the thoughts that swept over me the next few days and months were things like, “Maybe you should go somewhere you can make an impact.” “If you had been a better steward of your gifts, the Lord would have sent you someplace with more potential, perhaps given you a larger field to work in.” It has been in these doubts and accusations that the Lord has had to meet me several times to turn my eyes back to himself, his example, and his character.