Matthew 17:20 RSV He said to them, “Because of your little faith. For truly, I say to you, if you have faith as a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible to you.”

Last July, I felt the lead by God that it was time for me to go back into pastoral ministry in the United Methodist Church. The most challenging part was that my wife and I were both in leadership postions in an Assemblies of God church. In fact, my wife was the office manager of our church.

So, though I was excited about my calling, I was concerned about how it would be received by my wife. Other concerns came flooding through my head. I started worring about what this meant: We would have to leave our church, find a United Methodist Church to join and attend. It would take a year before I could even begin the pastoral process. To get fully ordained would take many years and necessitate getting an M.Div. At some point, I would have to leave a succesful career and start all over again making a lot less money.

Once I calmed down a bit, I realized everything would move along one step at a time. I started by telling my wife about my pastoral calling. Thankfully, she didn’t freak out. We met together with our pastor to seek his advice. Our pastor told me to seek confirmation from others and from God’s word. Having received confirmation from both, my wife and I decided to move forward. She turned in her notice, we sold our home in one day, left our church and moved to the same town as my current job. My wife felt more comfortable leaving her job since we had to leave the church. We moved to the same town as my job because it made sense to save gas money on my commute and start over with a United Methodist Church in another town. I have also been accepted to a great seminary. The road to ordained ministry has only begun.

What is holding you back from your dreams? Have you asked God if you are where you need to be? Are you willing to make the sacrifices and take the time it takes to get there? If you are where you should be, are you working and serving with excellence?

May God help us know and walk in His will. May He help us have faith to dream big and the humility and patience to serve where He has called us in each stage of our lives.