For many years, Patrick prayed for God to give him direction in his career and spiritual life. But he wasn’t really sure if God was answering…so, God decided to give him a sign.
In his search for answers, Patrick was listening to a speaker who challenged him saying, “What do you think everyone else in the church should be doing? Whatever is the dominant thing that comes to mind when you answer that question is likely what God is calling you to do.”
This was a pivotal moment for Patrick.
“What I thought was everybody should be doing evangelism,” shared Patrick. “And to be honest, I never thought that was the job for me. For one, it scared me. Secondly, I'm not naturally an outgoing person. But as I've begun pursuing this direction, it's been life changing.”
But Patrick wasn’t done hearing from God.
“Lately I’ve had a few instances where God just overwhelmed me with emotion,” continued Patrick. “My eyes start welling up and I start crying. I'm not even sad when it's happening. It's like an emotional response that I'm almost a little bit disconnected from.
One Wednesday night, I was driving to church by myself listening to worship music and praying. Recently, I had been weighing getting into ministry or going to seminary, and the thought popped in my mind. I instantly broke down and started crying at the thought of others seeing me as their pastor. Emotion overwhelmed me. I felt like God wanted me to work for Him somehow. I never envisioned this for my life – but at that moment it just clicked. I still kind of ignored it. I still didn't fully understand it. Only through continued prayer and continued emotional response did I realize that He was calling me to go to seminary to draw closer to Him in that way.”
Although he’s not sure how God plans to use him, Patrick is now taking seminary courses. “By following that prompting, I realized how there's a need and an urge down in my heart to try and teach people the gospel, to try and show them Jesus. And, you know, it's funny, –the thing I was most terrified of is now what I'm striving for.”
“I’ve learned it's important for us to look for different kinds of responses as confirmation from the Lord. Being emotional was not my natural bend, but at this point, I'm in tune with realizing that's how God speaks to me.”