A Future With A Past

Yesterday was the last day of my Senior Seminar class for a major that I NEVER thought I would have. Looking back now I am amazed at how the Lord in His sovereignty worked things out in my life to cause pieces to fall into their proper places. Upon the final class period with my Senior Sem girls I became sentimental as I thought back on those things that happened in my life that caused me to choose the best major available at Moody. I want to share this story of sovereignty and surrender with you.

Growing up I didn’t really like girls. They were too moody, temperamental, and mean. Besides my best childhood friend who was a girl, I mostly hung out with the guys. My brother is just a year and a half older than me and most of the kids in our neighborhood were boys. So naturally I hung out with them doing a lot of boy things… Playing in the woods, riding dirt bikes and 4-wheelers, playing paintball, playing sports in the backyard, playing on the farm and making hay forts and cleaning out animal pens. Many of my childhood activities revolved around boys and activities done with them. I somewhat dreaded the idea of going to college and living in a dorm with a bunch of girls and all their estrogen. I wanted to be a counseling or communications major and establish a career in the professional world. However, for many years I wanted to preach the Gospel and speak at conferences, I just never knew there was a major that could cater to my deep, heartfelt desires for ministry. So I tried by myself to figure out what would best work with some of my ideas. Well, God had a better idea than letting me work things out for myself [He always does]. 

I was in my second semester at Moody, sitting in my Spiritual Life and Community class with Prof. Pam MacRae. It was one of the first classes of the semester and she was telling us about herself and she mentioned that she was the head of the Women’s Ministry Department at Moody. Then she made a very off-handed comment that Women’s Ministry was the best major at Moody and if we wanted an easy ‘A’ in her SLAC class we should just become Women’s Ministry majors. Now, I have always been one to work hard and do my best in school. Grades were important to me and I already knew that Moody was much, MUCH harder than the Community College I had transferred from. So I thought to myself “I would love an easy ‘A’”. Yes, I am ashamed to say it, but I went back to my room and began considering all my options and the reasons I should become a Women’s Ministry major. I had spoken to very few Women’s Ministry majors before that and always walked away thinking “That’s great for you, but I could NEVER work with a bunch of moody women all day”. I think God laughs when His children say stuff like that. Bay Forrest was an NBA player and after retiring he told the Lord he would do anything… As long as God didn’t send him to Africa. Guess what God did? God sent Bay and his wife Peg to Africa for a few years. I don’t think God does this to spite us or make us distrust Him. Rather, I think He does it to show us how much bigger He is. He can take our thoughts and fears and make them something bigger and more beautiful than anything we could have imagined.

I’m sure you guessed by now what happened. I became a Women’s Ministry major interdisciplinary with Biblical Exposition. This decision was made after much prayer and counsel. I remember a feeling of excitement at the idea that I would be able to preach… It never crossed my mind that there was training women could get for what I wanted to do. I thought about all the sermons I attempted to preach in youth convention contests. I thought about all the speech contests my mother encouraged me to enter and special classes she made me take. I thought about how much I loved acting and doing plays and how that would help me now. I pictured myself exegeting Scripture and preparing sermons. I doubted myself, a lot. I knew this was not something I had brought about by myself, and I was humbled that the Lord thought me capable of doing something like this. I was petrified entering this new pursuit, but I was so excited, too. Never in my wildest dreams would I have thought I would actually be doing this. Never. I think it is in the “never” that God loves to pull through and show us why He wants to make the “nevers” reality. Because when something is accomplished that was previously classified as a “never” only God can get the glory.

What were some “nevers” in your life that God used to show His glory and sovereignty? What are some “nevers” you are experiencing right now that you need to surrender to God?

Philippians 4:13 “I can do all things through him who strengthens me.”