Seeing The Big Picture

In February of 2001, the Lord called us to ministry to the drivers, crews, families and fans of drag racing through several different organizations and tracks across the US and in Canada. In 2004, I retired from my career in the military and started ministering at the races fulltime. At the height of the race track ministry we had 12 chaplains and ministered at over 60 events each year.

In 2008, the economy took a huge nose dive. As fuel prices rose and people lost their jobs, racing organizations started to drop like flies. By the end of the season, there was only 1 group left for us to minister in and the Lord had ask me to step down as their chaplain. I was a minister with no place to minister and had no idea what to do with my life.

A friend was helping out with a church plant in a small town south of our home, so we felt the Lord wanted us to help there. After 9 months, we knew this was not what He wanted us to do either. It was at this point He called us to ministry in the marketplace through our business. It would be several years before we realized this is what He wanted. He made it very apparent when we started praying about a church plant near family in New York. As we prayed and looked for opportunity, he ripped open the door on our business. It was then we knew what He wanted us to do in this season of our life.

It was 3 long years of wandering and wondering what the Lord wanted us to do. We did our best to keep our eyes on Him and continued the march through life. What He has done through our business is phenomenal, we are well suited to minister in the marketplace.

When things get dark or confusing in your life, the best thing to do is hang on to the Lord and keep walking. He will reveal His perfect will for your life, it’s all a matter of patience.

Blessings

Seeing The Big Picture
by Os Hillman

…”Everything is against me!” – Genesis 42:36

Eventually, Benjamin along with Jacob’s other sons learned that their brother Joseph was second in command in Egypt. Joseph revealed his identity, and Jacob was reunited with his son whom he had not seen for more than 13 years. He had thought Joseph to be dead.

So often we believe our dreams are dead. There seems to be nothing left in our world to live for. Everything appears to be against us. During these times, God is doing His deepest behind-the-scenes work. During these times, God is performing a deeper work in each of us — a work that cannot be seen.

When clients began leaving my ad agency and it dried up for no apparent reason, it appeared “everything was against me.” I could not see that God was orchestrating a whole new calling on my life. At the moment, it seemed like the worst thing in the world. It seemed that I had been a failure. But God said, “No.” All the years before had been preparation for what God’s ultimate calling would be. One of God’s methods for directing His children’s steps is through drying up resources: a job loss, a career change, or a disaster. In these times we are willing to listen more intently, and to seek God in ways we would not normally do. C.S. Lewis once wrote, “God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pains; it is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world.” [C.S.Lewis, The Problem of Pain (New York: Macmillan Publishing Company, 1962), 93.]