Let God Ruin Your Life

I was the kid who had it all figured out in high school.
I knew what college I was going to, the program I was going to take, I even knew the company I wanted to work for when I graduated. For the record, in order, those things were: Mohawk College, Architectural Technology, and NuStadia.

Those plans didn’t exactly work out.

I got to Mohawk for my first year and LOVED it. I was doing great in my classes (mostly…), loving the program and even met some great new friends. Then, summer came. I took a job at my home church as Assistant Director for their Day Camp ministry. I spent the summer helping to lead a team of 10 staff and 40 + volunteers through 4 weeks of camp with about 200 kids each week. I loved every minute of it.
Throughout the summer people began saying to me “hey, you know you seem to really enjoy ministry” and “you seem to have gifts in this area, maybe you should…” and that’s where I’d cut them off. Thanx very much, but I’ve got a pretty great plan for my life already. I did my best to brush it off, ignore the feeling that they might be right. But, I could feel this tugging in my spirit. It was extremely annoying, to be honest. If you were to ask Angela (my girlfriend at the time, now my wife) she’d say I was miserable to be around that summer. I was in a full out argument with God and it was becoming clearer and clearer each day that He was pushing me in a direction I didn’t want to go.
My prayer times were mostly me begging God to leave me alone. My thoughts were focused mostly on all the reasons I could think of that I shouldn’t go into ministry - and I had lots. Nevertheless, I couldn’t shake it. I finally started to talk it through with some of the mentors in my life and they unanimously agreed that God was calling me to pursue a career in Youth Ministry and that I should enroll in Bible College.

Dang it.

So, I did what every wise and mature christian would do - I cut God a deal. I told him I’d do the Bible college thing for a year, prove him wrong, and then head back to Mohawk to finish my program. I cut that deal in late August of 2000. By January of 2001 I'd fallen in love with youth ministry. I’ve been a youth pastor for 15 years now and I can’t fully convey how thankful I am that God ruined my life. That he stepped all over the grand plans I had for myself, that he lead me somewhere I didn’t want to go, that he showed me a life I could never imagine myself loving as much I do.
If you’ve got that inkling, that sense that God is calling you to something. Don’t resist it, don’t ignore it, try not to be scared of it. Pursue it. Let God ruin every plan you've ever made for yourself and show you something infinitely better.

You won't regret it.

If you’re trying to discern whether the idea in your head is calling from God or not, check out this post and i may help you get some clarity.