My
search to discover God's will for my life vocationally consciously
began in university. It was there that I first experienced being a
part of campus groups filled with dynamic and passionate Christians.
During my first year the topic of conversation in those groups
seemed to revolve entirely around the necessity of having goals for
your life. I felt I had obviously been far too lax in my Christian,
educational and intellectual growth since I had not been praying
such a prayer. So I prayed, 'Lord, everyone says I need a goal, so I
guess You had better give me a goal'. And so it began. I came to
learn that there are certain prayers that God will answer
unequivocally - in His time. It was at that time that everything I
read in the Bible seemed to be speaking about justice, and 'standing
up for the rights of the poor and needy'. I was sure I was headed to
law school - to the extent of writing the LSAT, applying for and
being accepted at law school.
But God had other plans.
It was also during my time at university and attending some remarkable Christian conferences that I was confronted with the challenge of 'are you willing to do whatever God wants you to do, go wherever He calls you to go, and be whatever He wants you to be'? It was a painful experience to realize that I was not completely willing to pray that prayer. (The stumbling block at the time being the typical 'I don't want to be a missionary in Africa'). I finally did come to the point of surrender, prayed that prayer, adding 'Lord, I'll do anything, I just need to know for sure'. (Ask me sometime about my experience reading the book of Jonah).
It was after a period of several months of prayer and searching Scripture that I finally knew - for sure. I was determined to continue with my regular, daily Bible reading, and one day as I read 2 Timothy 4:2 I was stopped by, and could not continue beyond, the words "Preach the Word". I did not need confirmation from others, which I did receive; I knew with full conviction I was to be a minister of the gospel of Jesus Christ. I also knew beyond a shadow of doubt that if I had tried to do something else, a fish would have swallowed me up and spit me out at the doors of a seminary.