I Don’t know if I’m ‘scared’ exactly, just nervous mostly. I graduated high school in ’06, and kind of ‘took the year off’. Basically I’m lazy, and didn’t want to have to sit through four more years of school. For a long time I thought I wanted to go into law enforcement, but for about the past two years I have kind of felt called to ministry of some sort.
After last week at youth camp (as an adult sponsor) I am feeling more and more called into ministry. I’ve been praying about it since before then, and a lot more since then, and today I got a call from a college that I kind of half applied to back in January.
I’ve lived in the same place my whole life. Last fall I tried to go into the Navy, but was medically disqualified at boot camp and sent home. I’m scared to try something new again because I consider myself a failure. The college I am looking at is only about two hours away, so I’d be fairly close to home, but I’ve built a lot for myself here in the past year….Any advice?
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{ 25 comments… read them below or add one }
Just keep praying for guidance. God’s will is being done, no matter what. The Navy wasn’t for you, therefore, If the ministry is right, you’ll know once you’ve entered.
having a ministry is hard work, you often have to put others before yourself. If you have the calling, then follow it, but be prepared for the emotional burden that will be placed upon you as a guide for people in turmoil. good luck
It’s always scary to move forward.
Move forward.
Indecision paralyzes – its the fear of choosing wrong.
You are not a failure.
God has a plan for you.
Listen.
.
God doesn’t even exist. You’ll gonna let a myth drive you crazy.
If you ignore God’s call you will be unhappy.
Give it a try. If you don’t like it you can always switch to something else. You are young enough to try different fields before you make up your mind. Do you like helping people? Can you deal with the sick and dying?
Travel the world, read books of all kinds, experience life, study everything, learn about different types of people and things, acquire wisdom, and THEN decide what you want to do for the rest of your life. Not before. A decision made without wisdom is an unwise decision.
Are you satisfied with what you do now? Will it still satisfy you in 10 years?
Do you want more than what you have ‘built up’?
What have you really got to lose?
sounds like delusion to me….school? armed forces? you’ll make a real good NWO soldier!
Step out in faith…. Sometimes God won’t reveal whats next until you do.
Go for it. I don’t know how you could consider yourself a failure. Life is a lesson…
How do you know God is calling you into the ministry? Ministry is not for people who can’t do anything else. It’s a lot of hard work, long hours, little pay. And lazy people don’t stay in ministry for long. I am Christian and my advice to you is go to college, find a career that you like, be active in church, and pray. And stop being lazy. Laziness is a sin, get off your bum and go do something. Do a search for all the references to lazy in the Bible, then stop being lazy and get started doing something.
If you don’t follow your calling you will be miserable. It’s rare for a person to know what they were supposed to do. Besides God punishes those who ignore the call, Jonah got swallowed and Moses got kept out of the promised land. I’m not saying it will be as severe as that, but like I said you’ll be miserable. And besides you don’t want to be like me, and live a life with no purpose.
What scares me is that a person educated enough to know how to use a computer can think that a non-existent being can call him to do anything
You need to get out of the boat. If you’re willing to go into the ministry, then you need to be willing to go wherever you’re asked to go. I feel like if you’re going to commit to something like this, then it’s all or nothing. I was a Christian once so I know what you’re talking about. Jesus walked on the water, but so did Peter. Was the hard part walking on water? No, the hard part was stepping out of the boat. You need to get out of your comfort zone. If that means moving all the way across the planet, then move all the way across the planet. The easiest way to find out if your’re supposed to go into the ministry is to go into the ministry. If it’s not what you’re supposed to do, it won’t take long for you to confirm that. Blessings!
Go with your heart. If you’re not sure about being a minister, persue it and see if it happens. If you don’t want to do it, don’t. God’s not calling you to do something that you absolutely don’t want to do and won’t make you happy. He doesn’t want you to be miserable. You’re young, and you can go to school and learn and make a decision even 3 years from now and not have to start all over from scratch with any major loss of time and effort. Your first several years of school will be just the general stuff anyway, so go. And you’ve not built so much where you are that even a major change will be life-shattering. You’re very young. Take a chace. You’ve got nothing to lose.
It sounds to me that you’d like to go into ministry. Do it. And remember, when God spoke to various people in the Bible, they felt scared. Moses with the burning bush. And, was it Job who was swallowed by the whale? He ran from following God only to find God.
Before you go to college, speak with a minister, priest, etc. Discuss your feelings and see what happens.
Good luck.
Yo Stippy….something you said really caught my attention: You are scared to try something new, and consider yourself a failure… Doesnt The Lord provide you with easing of fears and strength to accomplish all that you desire? Doesnt he fill you full of a sense of accomplishment, rather than failure?
You are not a failure, friend. So, you were medically disqualified from serving in the Navy – you should be happy about that, as you most likely would be killed in battle or at least fighting an unjust war right now. So, maybe God had you tossed out of the Navy so that you could follow his ministry?
If you want my real advice, it would be to go to school – attend the college you applied to. (half applied and they accepted you? And you consider yourself a failure? Heck, its impressive if you only half applied and they actually accepted you!) You are a young man – I can tell you that, when I was your age, I too thought I knew all there was to know. I know now that I still have much to learn. You have lived a shletered existence, never leaving homne or even your town. Why not broaden your horizons, travel and meet new people, and obtain an education? Then, if you still feel lost and ministry calling you, take that route. The problem with asking a priest or minister in this situation should be obvious – you are considering joining their cause, or leaving that church in order to receive an education. What do you think their advice will be? OF COURSE they will tell you to become a minister and not get an education (because an education is the leading reason most turn away from Christianity…)
But you are not a failure.
No, you’re not the only one. It’s a long precedent that those who are truly called are scared to death to go (look at Moses, Samuel, Jeremiah and the rest of the prophets… even Jesus was terrified!).
I say, keep praying. Two hours away is not that big of a move – sometimes God moves people thousands of miles from home – perhaps you can commute and keep your current residence.
I also insist (as much as an answerer on Yahoo! can) that you immediately have a conversation with your spiritual leader — pastor, priest or whatever. These types of conversations are best dealt with in those settings — not on Yahoo! Answers.
It’ll be good for you to get out – think of it as a time to start again, especially in the areas that you’ve been wanting to change.
As for being called to ministry – that can be scary for a lot of people, but I want you to know that you will never be happy doing anything else if this is what He has called you out for. God probably doesn’t want you to make your decision right at this moment – it sounds to me like He’s easing you in a bit, so take this time to think it through in prayer and just trust Him to do what is best for you.
I don’t know you, but I seriously doubt you’re a failure. Just because some things in life don’t work out the way we would hope or have planned doesn’t mean they constitute failures – it just means they’re different. Find your courage and hope in God and let go of those fears – “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.”
2 Timothy 1:7 NKJV
“…I consider myself a failure.”
You’re only a failure when you quit trying.
If a degree is in your future I wouldn’t wait too long before getting back into the system. The sooner you get back into it the better.
I’m not sure whether you mean a ministry on an individual level or in an official capacity (church pastorship, seminary & such) but it’ll be challenging and rewarding. Consult the elders of your church and continue to seek His will.
Proverbs 3
5 Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.
6 In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.
God bless you.
I can relate to what you are going through because it’s happened to me and others I’m sure. If you feel called the ministry then you should pray and ask the Lord exactly what He has in mind for you whether it be a pastor,missionary etc. God has plans for your life and you shouldn’t be afraid of what He wants you to do. Keep praying and put your trust in Him and don’t let people who don’t believe in the LORD influence your decision either.
The harder you work for 4 years in college, the less you will have to work afterwards and vice versa.
If you sit stagnant in your life, you will slowly go downhill. After all, it is a world of survival of the fittest, and without hard work you not only go nowhere, you get trampled on.
The ministry thing can happen anytime. I don’t believe that God is “calling you”, but rather you think ministry work is the easy road (since there’s minimal training involved). Not true! Most people will want to see your qualifications; some sort of theology degree. Or at the very least, a certification, but that might not get you far either.
Go to college. Force yourself. Without at least a bachelors, you’re going to have to work your ass off the rest of you life to live paycheck to paycheck. Then at the age or retirement, you will have to work or drop drastically below the poverty line if you’re not there already. Without a college degree, you might need to work 2 or 3 jobs at a time to maintain. Or work one and have room mates for the rest of you adult life (that gets old VERY quickly).
Go to college, if for nothing else, to afford the lazy lifestyle that you want. If you really want to get into ministry, major in theology.
Have you ever thought of becoming a military chaplain? It’s a little bit of both things your thinkning about. You are working as a spiritual leader, but still furthering your country. Schooling is paid for, and you start off as a major. You won’t be able to carry a gun (Chaplains don’t carry weapons), but you will have some chaplains assistants assigned to you, and they are fully trained with firearms, and they are your protection, but you are still in charge of them. Just something to think about.
GO TO COLLEGE! (Sorry about yelling – but the more education you have the more comfortable you will be as you get older.)
As I am retired Navy – PLEASE – go to university/college. If you are called – GO.
Never have regrets about DOING something.
You will have REAL regrets in NOT doing anything. Really – I hear this all the time “I coulda…” “I shoulda…” Heck most of the taxi drivers in Hawaii in the 80′s told me to stay in and retire, as they were so close, and regretted not doing more time. AGAIN – NOT doing.
YOU ARE NOT A FAILURE. You have been blocked from one path of life, there are millions of other paths to choose. The ministry is an exciting choice, and worth time and questions to those in the field. Seems like you have a wonderful adventure – just not at sea, in the middle of a huricane, or underwater as I was. Seems like your up for more of a challenge, as I remember my time, (excessively boring, shh, we’re supposed to tell everyone it’s 24/7 exciting.)
Good fortune to you!
Almost forgot – I’m scared everyday of what GOD wants me to do. Some days I can, other days GOD understands …