the glory years.

Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will make you fishers of men.

—Matthew 4:19—

I have been going through a serious time of introspection.

I often find myself reflecting on times past when I felt close to God and saw Him move in tangible ways. I of course flash back to my time as a YWAMer (as most of us YWAMers tend to do) and remember that as a time of great closeness and reliance on God. For those of you not YWAMified, YWAM is a missions organization where the students, staff, and other workers travel the world ministering to people without ANY money! They are 100% supported by individuals they already know. My wife Blake and I were supported some by family, but most of our other income came from other supporters. We always marvel at how God always came through and even when we felt His leading to give money to others, He would consistently fill that gap through some miraculous way! And we got to travel the globe, see people saved, lives transformed… my glory years.

Now, we have 2 kids, live in a 4-bedroom house, and I (after several months of trying to find a worship pastor job, and my business not doing great) am now working full time at my Dad’s company. Not where I was hoping to be. I love ministry. I feel comfortable doing it. Something about it just comes so naturally, and it’s results so tangible. And I get so much encouragement whenever I’m doing it. So what is God doing?! Sure I’m writing and recording music, and I have this flippin blog but I miss sitting down with people and just ministering!

But a small thought has been growing inside me the last week. You know, those thoughts that start small and unclear but out of the fog it begins to grow in clarity and seems to drop straight from God Himself…

What if I actually stopped looking for the next set of glory years, and actually became a “fisher of men” where I’m at?

Seems like God 101. But I’ve never felt so much relief and release! A religious guilt has grown in me quite unnoticed. It was works-based and dwelled in the past. I have been crippled by the mountaintop experiences of the past and wallowing in my desire to see them return. But now, I have begun to look at the people God has put in my path today; my wife, my kids, our neighbors, the mormon missionaries that come to my door, the woman behind me in the grocery store, the man sitting next to me in a bookstore… where can God use me now?

I want to be the man that is willing to find out!

Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

—Philippians 3:13-14—

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