Who Is In the Driver's Seat?

 While in college, I was convicted by God to do my internship in the northeastern corner of the United States. And so, I set out with a few phone calls and emails. However, the one lead that I had resulted in a dead end. My conclusion? Maybe God doesn’t want me to go northeast after all. I’ll just look closer to home.

So, I found what sounded like the next best possibility, email a large church in Joplin, Missouri that had a heart for church planting. Promptly, this church emailed me back and referred me back to the northeast corner of the United States and a church that they knew of who was accepting interns. That was when I was reminded that God can indeed be trusted when he convicts us to do what seems uncomfortable or impossible. After all, I gave up on going northeast and he pushed me back that direction by His providence and not by my faith. 

I reached out to The Mountain Christian Church near Baltimore, Maryland and asked if there was any possibility that I could intern with them. They typed back, “We would love to have you as an intern, but because of your heart for church planting we think that you would be a better fit for The Foundry in the heart of Baltimore.”

This had my heart pumping a hundred miles an hour. I could not believe my ears. Quickly, I emailed The Foundry Church and had a good conversation with the minister. He loved my heart for ministry, but he said, “I can’t provide you with housing or the income to find housing. And you do not have enough time to raise funds to make this internship.”

My heart dropped. How could God mislead me? I gave up on the internship. Maybe it would work out a different year. And then at Chapel the following week, my church planting professor, Mike Ackerman, asked me how my internship search was going. I said, “Well, it was a dead end. They could not provide housing, income or even a side gig for an income.” 

Mike then wisely said, “Did they say no?”

“Well, no...” I replied.

“Ryan, don’t you think it’s easier for God to direct a moving car rather than a parked one?”

I was cut to the heart by my lack of faith and immediately emailed The Mountain Christian Church and explained the situation with their hope that I could intern with The Foundry Church as they desired. When they emailed me back, I was shocked by the reply:

“If money is an obstacle, I could maybe find you housing and a job up here and you could work down in the city.”

God had provided at just the right time and reminded me once again that He can indeed be trusted to direct my life. He can be trusted in the driver’s seat. “God can be trusted. You can only trust Him. You must trust Him.”