Life Reflection
"I Prayed For This"
Today, I turned 30 years old, and today, for the most part is a pretty run-of-the-mill day. Tuesdays are a day that I take the vast majority of the day in Sunday morning sermon prep. After a short period of time in pastoral ministry, I found that many things have a tendency to pop up during the week that aren’t necessarily expected. Projects occur, people get sick, things happen outside of my control that might put my preparations off until the weekend if I’m not careful. I never want to be scrambling to slap a message together on Saturday night. So, I set up my schedule that on a normal week Tuesday is a non-negotiable day of sermon preparation.
If I have to teach the next day on Wednesday night and I’m behind on prep? Tuesday is Sunday sermon preparation time. If I have some sort of physical thing going on and I need to visit the doctor? It’ll have to be on another day, because Tuesday is Sunday sermon preparation time. Holiday? Generally, Tuesday is Sunday sermon prep time. Very, very rarely do I change this, unless there is something else that I really should attend (Like a pastor’s retreat this last January) that I don’t get a say in scheduling.
So, today, I will spend my longest workday of the week in the office, opening up God’s Word to Ecclesiastes chapter two, and praying that God opens my eyes to behold wondrous things out of His law, that I might be able to speak His Word on Sunday, February 16, 2025. I’ll be gone most of the day from family, and tonight I have a board meeting. I don’t know anyone that gets particularly excited about board meetings, for most they are a necessary evil. I don’t have a strong opinion about them, but I can probably honestly say that it’s not what I would have planned to do on my 30th birthday. Today is going to be a very ordinary and yet very busy day. It’s at this time that I remind myself I prayed for this.
There was a period of time in my life where all I wanted in the world was to enter vocational ministry and to have the blessed privilege of opening God’s Word for a living. I’m sure there are many young men in the world who wish to be here, and furthermore, I know there are many who do it bi-vocationally that wish to be in this position as well. I’m here, and I prayed for this. Perhaps I didn’t pray for a board meeting on my 30th birthday, but I prayed for this. It’s such a wonderful blessing from God to be able to serve in pastoral ministry.
As I reflect on this, today, I wonder how often in our lives we enjoy answered prayers in the present that we forget to thank God for and we take for granted. We hope, wish, and pray for things throughout our lives, and then they come and go and we move on. I even think of the classic “prayer-chain” that probably every local church has in one way or another. We send out requests via text, phone calls, Facebook, or any number of means to get them out. But how often do prayer requests actually become praise reports? I don’t say this to say that prayers aren’t answered. I say this to say we often forget to stop and thank God for what He’s done in our lives, for His answered prayers, because we simply move on with our lives.
If I could ask anyone who might be reading this for a birthday gift, it would be simply this: Look over your own life today, and think about how much that you enjoy in the present that is an answered request from the past. If you find something, thank God for it.
Here are a few from my own life:
When my firstborn daughter was around one year old, the doctor was concerned that her skull had prematurely fused (something a young father knows absolutely nothing about!) and this was a scary thing. She might have to get her skull cut back open surgically (something a young father never wants to hear!) and we prayed and prayed and prayed and prayed, and she was fine. I thank God for this today.
A few years ago, God put it on my heart to attend seminary and to work towards an MDiv (Master of Divinity) as part of my preparation for pastoral ministry. We didn’t make a ton of money and we had quite a few expenses and things in life that made it seem like an insurmountable goal. I wasn’t willing to take out student loans to become a preacher, even though I felt this was what God had for me. Why? Well, I don’t believe that debt is a blessing from God, and I didn’t want financial concerns to be a major deciding factor in where I could serve. I know some churches can’t afford a pastor who has huge loans, and I never wanted this to even be a consideration. Well, I graduated in December of 2022 with an MDIV from the Capital Seminary of Lancaster Bible College with $0 in student loan debt. Not only this, but we never even had to enter into the payment program to pay off tuition throughout the semester. We paid the full amount, in cash, up front, each semester. I never thought any of that was possible, but I thank God for this today.
I already mentioned about becoming a pastor, but this was a big thing for me in life. It was what we believed God had made me to do, and we were hoping that someday God would open the door for me. One day, totally out of the blue, I saw online that there was a church in Shamokin, PA that needed a pastor and it seemed like it would be the perfect place for my family. I reached out, and a few months later became the pastor of Grace Chapel. God opened the door for me to do what I wanted to do, and it has been such a blessing in my life. Not only this, but I didn’t have to move across the country to find a church. We really hoped to stay near family, if possible, although we were willing to go wherever He led us. I recently met a young man serving as a pastor in a far more rural area of Pennsylvania than me, and he moved up here from Florida. I believe he said his nearest family was in the Carolinas! I moved about three hours from my family, and we’re even closer to my in-laws, and I’m serving, doing what I believe God has made me to do. I thank God for this today.
After the birth of my first daughter, it seemed the chances of having another child were slim at best, and more realistically zero. For a few years my wife and I talked about it off and on, conversations rarely tended to go great on the subject, and it was a matter of prayer for me. I really wanted more children, but it seemed it would take a miracle. In 2023, we welcomed my second daughter into this world and truly Abigail is “Her father’s joy.” I have found such joy in this little girl that God has given to us, and I thank God for her today.
I’m sure I could go on and on and on, but I’ll stop here after just a few of the big things. I hope that you’ll look over your own life today and consider what you are enjoying in the present that was a request in the past. Stop and thank God for these things, because you’re presently enjoying what you used to pray for. All of us have something, even if it might not be everything, and even if you’re going through hard times. I don’t want to be dismissive of real problems you might be having, but all of us have something today that we formerly wanted. We should take a minute and thank God for it today.
This is my birthday request of you, God bless.
Josiah
“give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you” (1 Thess. 5:18)