Pursuing His Will

So far, you’ve read about two key moments in my life where God was at work: the beginning of my life, and my dad’s nursing home ministry. This next one is about failure with a purpose. When I aspired to be in Law Enforcement, I decided to test my abilities by trying out for the Indiana State Police Academy in 2016. Here’s how the story unfolds. It was an early and chilly morning at 4:30am on a cold January winter’s day. As I walked across sheets of ice covering the parking lot, I was instructed to aid in forming a single-file line in front of the training facility doorway.

As all 100 of us shuffled along the sheets of ice, a State Trooper began to say, “Hurry up people! Don’t slip and fall, let’s go!” I entered a narrow hallway lined with pictures of graduated classes of State Troopers, and passed by several plaques that emphasized this was a place of high moral obligation, duty, honor, and courage. We were instructed not to touch the walls and to maintain good order as we followed the instructor’s guidance. Then we sat down in an auditorium where we were given instructions as to how the rest of the day would unfold. A Trooper explained the following: “Your physical abilities will be tested today by conducting a vertical leap jump, followed by push-ups, sit-ups, and finally, a 1.5-mile run.”

I failed the first test, the vertical leap jump. This was not something that I trained for, nor even knew would be a requirement. A Trooper said to me, “Good try son. We’ll see you in a year” and that hurt. As I reflect on this moment in my life, I am reminded that even when things don’t go our way, God takes our failures and uses them for our benefit. The benefit of me failing the State Trooper testing was that it started a new trajectory for my life, putting me on the path to pursuing God’s will.  I’m reminded of a passage of Scripture from Romans 8 which says:

“And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.”

Romans 8:28, ESV

Here’s the question for today: What is one moment of failure in your life that God used for your benefit?

Want to see more of this content? Here are some ways to support me!

–Pray: For this ministry and for me as I make these important steps towards making the vision become reality in these next 3 years or so. 

–Subscribe: If you want to stay informed about what God is doing in my life, please subscribe to my blog! When you subscribe, you will be notified by email when there is a new posting, and I plan to incorporate new posts every 2 weeks.

–Give: I invite you to prayerfully consider supporting me financially through giving. Your faithful stewardship through giving of what God has given to you, helps me to be active and do ministry in real-time all around the globe! To donate to support this ministry, click here. You can select my name in the dropdown box in the giving portal.

Thank you for your partnership! Whether you are a prayer warrior, a financial supporter or a blog reader, to me you are part of my family, and together we can do great and mighty things for the sake of the Gospel and the transformation of lives!