Moving On Up: A Highly Over Rated Experience

Years ago, a friend called to ask if I were interested in a staff position in a prominent church in northern Ohio. I hinted that I might be. He asked if I wanted him to call the pastor. I said not for my sake, but only if he wanted to make a recommendation to the church.

He made the call, and several days later, I received a call from the pastor inviting me to interview for the staff position, which I did. The church then offered me the position, which I accepted. It was a good fit and the work was fruitful as it always is when God gives birth to an opportunity.

But the church sat in the shadow of a much larger ministry (one of America's largest) in a neighboring city. The following year, I was invited to teach elemental theology and youth ministries in their college - from which vantage point, I admired the work and staff of the bigger church.

"One day maybe..." I caught myself sometimes thinking as I cast a wistful eye about me.

A year or so later, when a staff position opened in the larger church, I could not help myself. I took the opportunity to tell an associate that I was available. Never mind that God was already using me in the place where he had placed me.

A few days later, the hoped for call came for an interview and was followed by an offer, which I accepted. I thought my "time had come" and was excited. The work was good, but in time, I realized that whatever increased excitement or usefulness I was looking for, it didn't happen, and that bigness and prominence are highly overrated and cannot add to the happiness and contentment of just being in the place where God puts us.

Don Loy Whisnant/Journey Notes 9A24