A recent conversation got me thinking about how God calls people into ministry. I suppose every pastor senses God’s call differently, coming from different circumstances, having different personalities and influences on his life. Mine was quite sudden and dramatic after 10 years in business.

I resonated with the old saying, “Don’t become a pastor unless you can’t be satisfied doing anything else.” I lost all satisfaction in my daytime job and grew in my interest in the ‘business’ of church, even in the midst of politics, brokenness and dissention in my church at the time.

It is not all dream-come-true. There are challenges and headaches and disappointments. Sometimes I wonder with concern: Am I really ‘called by God,’ or does this profession just line up the most perfectly with my personality’s strengths and weaknesses, fears and aspirations, idols and disciplines?

But I am frequently reassured by the ‘fire shut up in my bones’ from Jeremiah, even if it is not manifest in my life in such vivid display. I was reassured of God’s call this week after a men’s group met at church early one morning and began to disperse. They left one by one, which left me alone in the church as the sun was coming up outside. As the last one left, I simply thought: I’m so glad I get to stay here.