Over the course of my life, my professional aspirations have evolved. I had dreams, as so many young boys do, of becoming a professional athlete. Those dreams gave way to more practical business pursuits, with the objective of being heavily involved in real estate development. My college education and early years of professional and corporate life helped to move me along that path – a path that was a surprise to absolutely no one who knew me. I was following the career trajectory that I and so many others expected.
If someone from my youth had compiled a list of the least likely vocations that I would pursue, I would be surprised if “pastor” had made the list – simply because it would have been so far fetched that it wouldn’t have occurred to anyone to even consider the possibility. Yet here I am today, now approaching seven years as pastor for our small church here on Daufuskie. The position that no one would have imagined me in is now the position that I couldn’t imagine not being in. It was never my aspiration, but fortunately for me, the One who knows me better than myself had a better plan for my life.
Perhaps my mind has turned to these thoughts because I have one daughter who just graduated from college last weekend and another daughter who will be graduating from high school in two weeks, and we are looking into the future trying to figure out where they will go next. It is natural to dream and to plan, and it is wise to then take steps to bring dreams to life. Not only is that good business sense, but it is also clear in Scripture, where there are many agricultural examples that depended on planning, preparation and patience.
However, sometimes God has something else in store for us, where He takes the lessons and experiences that we have been following for our own purposes and instead uses them for His purposes. At 80 years old, Moses would have never imagined that he would be called to lead the Israelites out of slavery, and yet that was the purpose for which God had prepared him. Peter was raised to be a fisherman, yet Jesus called him to become a fisher of men.
After we have had a few years (or even several decades) in our adult lives doing the things that we thought we were made to do, it is so easy to assume that we are fulfilling our purpose in life. You may have even reached the pinnacle of your career and thought it was time to retire. Don’t be surprised if God shows up to let you know that everything that you had been doing to that point was just a warm-up for what you were really called to do. When God says to you, as he said to Jeremiah “For I know the plans I have for you”, your best choice is to go along for the ride. Our greatest adventures in life can be the ones that we never saw coming.
Peace and blessings – Pastor Aaron