Many of my favorite memories happened on those trips to Los Angeles but this trip was especially memorable because of a phone call I received along the way. We were at a gas station somewhere on the edge of the desert. Under the palm trees my phone rang. Caller ID said International. THIS WAS THE CALL!
Very few people knew that Katie and I had applied for a pastoral position at a church in South London. We were well into the process but still uncertain what the results would be. Sometimes God intervenes, redirects, or just gives us opportunities to do something different. We were expecting to make a change but surprised that London was even an option.
It was Will on the phone inviting Katie and I to interview in person at Redeemer Croydon. A flight to London in a few weeks! God was answering our prayers. For two years we asked God to connect us with a church where we could faithfully share the Gospel. We were ready to follow and obey but God was ready for us to learn patience. After the flight and interview came the job offer, and then the selling of the house, and the packing, and the sleeping on floors, and then waiting for a visa, and then the reward: the arrival in London. That phone call changed everything.
Looking down at the ocean of lights from Griffith Park Observatory that night in L.A., the immensity and cost of the task before me became real. We weren’t just changing jobs, we were changing everything. I wouldn’t be coming back to this city next year. I wouldn’t be living my life alongside these teenagers. But the mission was compelling. Most people in that ocean of light don’t have a connection with the Creator of the universe. The same would be true in London. The opportunity to share the story of Jesus would be tremendous but costly.
This year has been challenging, confusing, humbling, stressful, and filled with immense joy. Sometimes all of that at the same time. It’s in seasons of difficulty that God can refine us and deepen our faith. And if you’re like me, we avoid those kinds of seasons. I’m learning, slowly, to embrace them. The opportunities to serve God are all around us. Sometimes they are local and sometimes they are on the other side of an ocean. They are always costly but they are always worth it. I was tempted to say no to the phone call. An international move would be difficult (it was). But we had decided to seek God’s kingdom above all else. When we thought about obeying God’s command to tell all the nations about Jesus, the opportunity to move to London couldn’t be missed.
I hope someday you too will get a call that changes everything.
Answer it.