In reference to my last post, I have been praying a lot, reading the Bible, and talking to other Christians about my debt situation. I have come to a conclusion: God doesn’t need me to be a pastor.
Now let me explain that. God doesn’t NEED any of us to do anything for Him. He chooses to use us for His glory. So my conclusion is that, no matter how I got in my current situation, God can use me if He so chooses. There are many biblical examples of men of God who were placed in difficult circumstances, and chose to serve God wherever they were at the moment.
- Joseph: Sold into slavery, he still served God in Potiphar’s house, AND in the prison. God blessed him for his faithfulness.
- Job: You know the story. God blessed him in the end for his faithfulness.
- Jonah: he was told to go inland, and instead he went to sea. He was tossed (willingly) overboard because he knew he was outside of the will of God, and swallowed by a great fish. Jonah was in a bad situation ENTIRELY of his own making. And yet he called out to God and God still chose to use him.
- Elijah had to run away from the government several times, even whining to God that he was the only believer left (not true). He had to live through a drought and famine, and yet he obeyed God. God rewarded his faithfulness in a bad situation, providing a few miracles along the way.
- Paul: Serving God. You could say he was at the center of God’s will, doing exactly what God wanted him to do. Paul was kind of an “Anti-Jonah.” What happened to him? II Corinthians 11:25-27. Beaten, stoned, shipwrecked, starving, etc. And finally he was thrown in jail with Silas for preaching the good news of Jesus Christ in Philippi. And yet he continued to serve God in jail. God blessed him for his faithfulness, and people were saved from Hell as a result.
Not one of those guys said, “Oh well, I’m in a bad situation, so I’m just going to sit here and wait for God to get me out of it before I start serving Him again.” I have been serving God while I wait for Him to get me out of this debtors prison I am in. I will continue to wait on His timing, and I will continue to serve Him in any way I can, as I devote more time to reading the Bible and praying.
We had special revival meetings this week, and one of the things I learned was this: Haggai 1:7-9 shows that God wants us to devote ourselves to him, and until we do, everything we do is worthless. Psalm 127:1 says that if God isn’t a part of your life and work, you’re a hamster on a wheel, a boxer punching the wind.
So I need to be the person God wants me to be right here, and make decisions that will please Him. If He chooses to pay off my debts and allow me to reenter full-time Christian service, then I will praise Him for His goodness. If He chooses to never pay off my debts, and allows me to remain here in this house, in this nursing job for the next 30-40 years, and never reenter full-time Christian service, then I will praise Him for His goodness. Psalm 84:10
Words of Truth 
>EVERY believer is in "full time Christian service. The difference between those of us who THINK we KNOW what God wants us to do, and those of us who don't CARE what God has us do – we just know he'll use us somehow, some way, in His time, is that the later are a lot happier.And it has been my experience that sometimes we don't even know we're being used.
>Yes, I know every believer is in full time Christian service, in a sense. But when I am at work, I am not free to move as God leads, I have to follow the dictates of my secular job. For instance, if I'm having a discussion with someone about salvation on our lunch break, and they are getting close to making a decision, but our time runs out, we can't sit there for another half hour to deal with her soul….I'll get fired. What I mean is that I want to be in the place where I can work directly for God, instead of being "dual employed."