Ministry Isn’t Easy. Here’s What It’s Really Like

Here's the podcast transcript with added structure through specific H3 headings and corrections of speech-to-text errors:

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Reflections on Home Life as Believers

It's nice to be able to jump on here again and have another conversation. I think we were chatting for a few minutes before on the topic and what we were going to discuss today, and really talking about the reality of our homes and how our home life as followers of Christ often is, number one, it's got to be our priority next to our relationship with God, right? But then how you mentioned earlier how the home life starts to ripple off and affect everything else, right? And so if the home is out of balance or out of whack, then we become ineffective or, you know, we get short with other people or whatnot.

And it just makes sense because those relationships that are closest to us, when they're not getting the attention they need, the attention they deserve, then we feel it. You know, we're obviously not happy with it, and then that starts impacting how we communicate and how we, you know, address other people. And ultimately, going back to what we talked about two weeks ago, the testimony can begin to affect our witness. You know, like my personal opinion, I don't think there's much more of a powerful witness than a solid Christian home in today's culture. You know, where mom and dad are both pursuing Jesus, the children are being raised up in the admonition of the Lord, you know, they're being trained. A stable, solid Christian home is such an effective witness to a world that has really just discounted and pushed aside the importance of family, marriage, and commitment in today's culture.

Importance of Self-Investment and Personal Growth

So that's kind of my lead-in. Man, why don't you share a few of your thoughts and kind of, you know, where the Lord was doing, you know, on this topic? You know, it's really begun to like stir within me. Just recently, guys, I had the privilege and honor to go to a sales training event. And, you know, generally when you go to a sales training event, you're going to get tools on sales. But it's awesome when you go to a sales training event and it's a body of believers, not all, but the man and the woman that ran it, it just struck me because I went there with the intentions to get all these great objection training tools, a new pitch, just a new model for who I was to develop my craft. And that I did, but the thing that stuck out to me the most has been the wife spoke.

She said how important it is to take the time to invest in yourself. She became very short with her children. She would always yell at her children. She never took care of herself, so her hair was always in a bun. And she realized that in the absence of not being able to, you know, take time for herself or put more focus and attention upon her children, it caused her to be really short with those around her. And she says it wasn't until she really broke away and took time for herself and realized, "Hey look, I can no longer live this way. I need to make change because if I don't, it's only going to get worse." And when she did that, her children began to see her in a different light.

The Need for Rest and Prayer

And it was amazing because it's like I think about Jesus when he was with his disciples and he told them to meet them on the other side, and he breaks away and he goes to have his prayer, right? And then Peter and the disciples see him walking on the water. They thought it was a ghost, if you will, right? He was basically in a different perspective, a different light because he poured into himself. He took the time because he understood how much people can drain him and how people can drain us, if you will. But he needed to spend that quality time with the Father.

I think prayer is such an important thing that has been absent within the body of Christ. We fixate so much of our attention on miracle signs, wonders, movements, bringing in members, all these other things, but quite frankly, in the old times you had people that were before the Lord, praying, undiligently seeking God on the behalf of not only their own home but on the behalf of others. And so this connection that you get with God is fuel, right? People have heard this illustration before, but if I have a cell phone and it has a low battery, I need it to be charged, right? So without the charge, my phone is useless.

The Value of Sacrifice in Personal Growth

And I think we as people are really useless in order to reach and do to follow through with the Great Commission if we're not being fueled, if we're not being charged. And so you and I know a brother named Chuck and I love this guy, and I'm going to get back on board with him shortly. But I remember when he told me that his mentorship classes cost X amount of dollars. And I was like, I'm not spending this money. That's too much. Like, that's ridiculous. Like, I don't have that kind of money. And I took a leap of faith and put out all this money to get coached by this individual, right?

And as I was coached by him, what he taught me was more valuable than what I spent for the services that he provided me with. And I think oftentimes we're not willing to break away and do things because we're like, "Oh, it's going to come with a cost." And so we look at the cost and we say, "Oh, can't do that. Like, this is more important." It's like, "No, no, no, no, no, no, no." The cost is something that you have to realize is necessary to get the result that you want. But we're often unwilling to make that kind of sacrifice. And when we make that sacrifice, what harvest we yield from it is extraordinary, man.

Creating Margin in Our Lives

And so like I'm seeing such a shift and a change in the culture within my own home because of the simple fact that I'm now taking the time to invest in myself, but also pushing my wife to get the same. Yeah, you know, there's a lot there, right? But like that whole idea of margin, man. We were just talking about that speaking of coaching. We were talking about that in the coaching call this week was really the idea of margin and having all the different areas of your life.

And that's something that I've been working on. They challenged us to rewrite our schedules and actually schedule in white space on our calendar. And I think we live in a time where we're so busy, we're so consumed all the time that it's very difficult to really have time for ourselves because we're running everywhere. And you think about that as, you know, even just, you know, even going from singlehood to marriage to adding children.

And it's easier when the kids are younger before they can engage in all these different activities. But then when they start to get engaged in different activities, like the calendar starts filling up really quick. And then you add in work, you add in church responsibilities, and then trying to make time for yourself. But then also adding in that other layer of making intentional time to spend with your spouse or intentional time to spend with your kids separately. I mean, that margin starts to whittle away really quickly.

Intentionality in Relationships

And so one of the things, you know, he challenged us to do in our coaching call the last two weeks is on, you know, schedule the white space in first. And then work backwards so that there is, you know, and it's really an idea of, he talked about a book, a business book called **Profit First,** where it talks about that concept of paying yourself first, but the same idea with your time. You know, setting your boundaries and your personal time first and then filling in the work with the hours you’ve got left.

And I read in my entire schedule after that call, really just to try to find margin and find balance, and know, "Okay, if I'm on with my family, I'm on with my family," right? And then, you know, we go to a job like I haven't punched in an actual job in a while, but you know, when you go, you're on the clock and your time belongs to them. And we don't push back on that. I wonder how our relationships and our life and our family would change if we consider it the same way. Like when I'm on, I'm punched in. I'm there with them.

The Struggle of Presence

And I can't rob them of this time, just like going to work and doing other things other than work is robbing from our employers, you know, because we're getting paid for their time. Like it's basically the same concept with our family when we're with them, we're on, but we're not present. Right, right. And that's been, I tried to work on, man, because I'm, you know, hyper-connected all the time. And I have a tendency to be on my phone. Like my device usage is one of those things, man, that I really, I'm really trying to grow and get better on.

Well, you know, the thing is, man, like as you're hearing you speak, and I'm going to just speak for myself, because this is a personal reality for me. When I begin to be quote unquote present, but not, or I'm in the vicinity of wherever my family is or from my workplace, but I'm not present, it's because I'm running from something. And I think oftentimes when I begin to fill the white space with extra things that are quite honestly not really important or phone time, I'm like just scrolling in between doors on shorts through YouTube or whatever it is, is because I'm trying to escape from something or run from something that I'm unwilling to deal with.

The Need for Vulnerability and Spiritual Connection

And I think oftentimes those things that we need to deal with are only going to be addressed when we learn to take time with God because God is the person that we're to come to. That's why he says in his word, "Be anxious for nothing, yet by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto him." Cast your cares upon the Lord for he cares for you. But what do we try to do? We try to, in our own strength, handle everything on our own. And God's like, "Hey, look, look, let me tell you something, your spirit wants you to do this, but your flesh is weak."

And so we side with the flesh because we've taken away from the spiritual aspect of everything, which is learning to pray, reading our word, right? But we have time to take the kids to sports. We have time to do all these other things. But like you were saying earlier, reverse engineering. But if we put God first, seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, all things will be added unto you. The pressure of life will be taken off your shoulders, and you will begin to live freely. And people will see you not as they see you, but as they see Christ.

Seeking God's Presence Amidst the Chaos

And so it no longer becomes this, "Oh, that's Robert." It's like, "Man, Rob, you're different. What is that?" Like, you're glowing today because you took the time to spend with Christ. Yeah, you took the time to spend with God. You invested in yourself first. And so we are people that we use the word, it's like, "Don't be selfish." It's like, "You know what? You actually kind of have to be a little selfish in this world." Yeah. In that regard, we have to be selfless, but I think being selfless requires being selfish.

What goes back to that place of like, we can't give what we don't have to give, right? Right. I mean, everything that we have is a worker grace, obviously, from the cross from that perspective. But like, if our tank is running on empty, then we've got nothing to pour out to other people. And a lot of times they think, you know, I can't speak from myself personally, like, I don't tend to learn that until I get on the other end to burnout. Right? And so I feel like I'm at the end of my road. And I feel like, you know, I've just run so hard and run so consistently, and my tank ends up getting empty because I think that I'm Superman at times, you know?

The Importance of Rest and Sabbath

Like, I don't want to pause and ask for help, you know? And there's that struggle too of like, you know, who do you be vulnerable with? We've had several conversations about that ability to be vulnerable and just say, "Hey, I'm running out of energy right now. I need to take time and pause and, you know, really refill that tank." That's why the scripture talks about the Sabbath so much. You know, it's, the Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath, but that whole concept of Sabbath and resting was necessary.

And that's why, weekly, you know, even with the crop rotations, giving the ground time, you know, to repurpose itself, if you will, so that it can plant, so it can rest and more crops can grow in the future. And, and I think that's something that we, we really have a hard time with. And I really, I am not anti-social media, obviously, I’m the last one to criticize social media usage. But like, man, it runs our anxiety through the roof because we're always connected to anything and everything.

Navigating Social Media and Its Impact

And I think sometimes there's even these expectations like, just because we're connected on social media, like, it doesn't mean I see everything going on in your life. And I may not acknowledge it because sometimes I think we throw something out there, especially on social, and like expect that everybody saw it, but really not many people saw it. But then we get frustrated when they don't mention it, you know? And that's just one example of how this hyper-connected nature has really just impacted anxiety.

It's like, well, did they see it? Do they like it? Do they care about what's going on in my life? And I just don't think we were made to have that much connectivity, you know? I don't know. Yeah, man, you know, the thing is that it all pulls down to saying we're now. Yeah, this is going to be one of the hardest things. And I was confronted by my wife last night. So this is going to be being transparent and vulnerable with you guys. But, you know, I was sharing with my wife some of my success from the day.

The Role of Relationships in Personal Growth

I said, "Hey, babe, I closed the deal." You know, she gave me some affirmations and exhortation. And then I shared with her that I closed another deal. And she just responded with "Nice." And so when I came home, I was like, "Man, like there's something like me. I've been married to her going on eight years now, you know? And like, I know my wife in and out, right?" And so I was like, "Man, there's something wrong." I was like, "Hey, there's everything. Okay?" I was like, "You know, our thing is, do you still love me?" You know, like we just say that to each other.

And she's like, "Yeah, I always love you." And the way that she said it allowed me to realize that there was something going on. And so what I didn't realize is that I have been doing something, right? I do my best. And I'm not going to any man out there that don't do this. But I do my best to help my wife in every aspect, whether it's doing laundry, cleaning, you know, doing the dishes, cleaning the house, making sure that there's less pressure for her throughout her day and her week.

The Perils of Overcommitting

And so when we've moved and transitioned into our new place for the last two weeks, she's put together our whole spot, man, like she's on top, unpacked all the boxes, organized, put, made the house a home. And I really didn't have any involvement in any of that because I know that if I start putting things away, she's going to have this, you know, "Oh, this just, I don't want that there. I want this over here." But rather than me asking, "Hey, and being taking, putting the front foot forward and say, 'Hey, where would you like me to put these things for you?'"

And then not doing anything at all, it caused her to feel like, "Hey, like, what's going on? Like you used to help me here. Now you're not helping me in this area of my life anymore." And so we had this hard conversation and it just allowed me to realize because sometimes we don't even realize what it is that we're doing. And so this leads me back in with the word no, but I began to fill my blocks and my days with things that I wouldn't normally fill my blocks and days with.

And it's because I was trying to be the people pleaser and never say no. And so sometimes you have to learn to say no in a season because what it does is it bleeds into other areas of your life, which causes you to compromise. And so we're so fixated and focused on worrying about what other people say through the connectivity that you were just talking about that we've neglected our home.

The Role of Faith and Intimacy with God

Yeah, saying no is like it's a faith exercise. It's an exercise in faith because like if I'm not doing it, then who's doing it? And that means I have to trust that God's going to do it. You know, Psalms 46, right? Be still and know that I'm God. You know, it's that idea of like if I say no, and I think sometimes that's where I struggle. It's like I said it earlier, like I want to take it in my own hands. And that exercise of trust and faith like knowing that, you know, if I'm not out there, you know, hustling or whatever, you know, doing what I need to do to keep the, you know, the lights on and the bills paid and, you know, make sure that we're setting ourselves up for the future.

You know, and I put that margin in my life like I've got to trust that God's going to provide. You know, and that, that is difficult at times for sure. You know, it's funny though, man, because you think about that. And you know, anybody that's listening, I want you to honestly really ponder this because I had a, I've been on this earth for 34 years, going on 35, come January. And when I think about it, even in my addiction and homelessness, I was never without.

Yeah, I always had the majority of my life I didn't know the Lord. And He provided whether it was the guardians in my life, whether it was the friends that I had, whether it was to a program that I was in, no matter where I was, there were people in my sphere of influence that took care of me only because of the grace of God. And so we look at our lives and we forget everything that we've been through because we look at our present circumstance and situation as if it’s going to be the end of the world.

Understanding God's Plan and Provision

And God is saying, "Look, I need you to take a second and break away from society because society is robbing you from fixating your eyes on me." Isaiah 26:3 says, "He keeps those in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on him." And so when we learn to redirect our attention and our focus on God and we invest in Him as He is invested in us by giving us the help or the pair of cleats, the Holy Spirit, then we lean in and we abide.

We rest, as you mentioned, and He rests in us. And so therefore we become one. That's what He has designed us for. He designed us to be one, right? Not separate, but one. We separated ourselves from Him through our sinful nature and actions. But He said, "Hey, look, I'm going to send you my Son, and He is going to take on your burdens. He's going to do the things that He needs to do so that He can bring you back into covenant relationship with me."

The Challenge of Effective Witnessing

And so relationship is built over time. But what we've done is we've taken the benefits of relationships. And a lot of y'all are hearing this right now because you guys want the benefit from your friendship, but you don't want to invest in your friendship. Right. Yeah. And so it's like, what can I get from you to help exalt me in my season of life? And then when you need me or when I need you vice-versa, then it's like, "Oh, you know what? You just treat me like I'm some ATM machine and you have not deposited anything in return."

And so God is like, "Hey, look, I love you and I'm going to be there for you, but you're not going to treat me like an ATM machine." How do your father? I want a relationship with you. And so I've neglected that. We've neglected that, which Intel has caused us to have a chaotic home. And that leads out to society, which society sees that they don't see the image of God. They see the image of man. And God does not want society to see the image of man, but the image of God, because that's what we were created by.

And so when we get control of our home, that's when I believe, Justin, that things begin to change in the world around us.

The Burden for the Lost

Yeah, it's crazy, that whole idea of friendship with God. I mean, He entered into a friendship relationship with us. No, we had nothing to give Him in return. Nothing. Like He came as a bond servant. He laid His life down, you know, but just we had nothing to bring to the equation. Right? And He chose to invest and not only, you know, pour encouragement and His words and all that, but lay His life down, you know?

Right, right. I mean, no greater love had man than this that he would lay down his life for a friend. And, and you know, just think about that, man, like spending time with that person that's willing to lay their life down. You know, we'll spend time with a lot of people for whatever different reasons, and they haven't done a fraction of what Christ has already done for us.

Because it's not tangible, right? Yeah. No, it's a spiritual thing. Yeah. Well, you know, the thing is, we're we are an emotionally led body. Everything's about a moment. Oh, it doesn't make me feel a certain way. Oh God. I want you. So if I go to church and worship, playing at the song, don't make me feel good. That doesn't mean that it's not good worship, because worship's not about you. Right?

It was never intended to be about you. And so what we've done is we've equated Christianity with the way it makes us feel. And how it makes us move. And, and if you're going to allow Christianity to sway you in that direction, hey bro, you're doing the wrong thing. Like, you know, so it took me some time to understand that, because let's be honest, we're both married and we can both say this and I'll say this out loud and clearly. My wife already knows this. There are times when I don't love the things that she does.

The Complexity of Relationships and Growth

But it doesn't mean I don't love my wife. You know what I mean? And so like, it's not about how she did, because she doesn't always make me feel a certain way. But that does not disregard my love for my wife, right? And so sometimes God has to shift us. He has to position us. And in Him positioning us, we need to learn to understand the season of life that we're in.

And I said something very powerful to my wife the other day. I said, "You know what, babe? We miss something so clear and crucial within our lives and understanding that what we're going through presently is what's to come in the future. Like it's, it's all preparation. Everything's preparation." Yeah. But what we see is we see this as like the end. It's like, "Oh my gosh, crap. And I'm sick." Or I'm this. And then we begin to murmur and complain like the Israelites done, rather than saying, "Hey, look, you know, the promises are coming."

Perseverance and Trusting God's Timing

Yeah, the promises are coming. I've already obtained it because I have the Savior with me, you know? Yeah. Yeah, we've been leaning into that whole conversation around spending more time in prayer and seeking God first. It's been a matter of focus at the church. You know, I preached on prayer this last Sunday. I talked about the importance of a powerful prayer life and really Moody used the term prevailing prayer and really what that looks like, you know, and how we are consistent in seeking God and putting Him first in every area of our life and really trusting Him.

You know, not just to do the work, but realizing that prayer is the work, right? There are so many ministry efforts and systems and projects and things that we can put in place to the church. And you know, there's time for all that. I love to geek out on that stuff, you know? I mean, you know, I think that's phenomenal. But like, if prayer is not at the foundation, then anything built on top is shaky.

You know, it's right. It's trust in God. Obviously, everything's built on the word, but we come to the Lord first and ask His guidance. And one of the things I mentioned on Sunday was that like sometimes I have this tendency to get an idea or put a plan together and like perceive or say that it may be God, but really, it's not in Him first. And so then I ask Him in on it afterwards, right? Instead of asking His blessing on it beforehand.

The Balance Between Ministry and Family Life

And I've been doing that many times in my life, like whether it's eager to heal or wanting to move the ball down the field quicker than maybe God is ready to move the ball down the field. And so I almost get out ahead of God rather than just staying in His shadow, you know, and staying behind Him. And that's something we're just addressing at the church. I mean, we did a meeting two weeks ago after church on Sunday and a bunch of a group of people that are going to be committed to praying and really on interceding on behalf of the church.

The lady that's leading it, she's been on a couple of our livestreams, Shipo. She spoke and led the meeting and she said, "Hey, I just feel like the Lord wants just to sort of repent first for not making prayer a priority." And it was probably one of the most beautiful prayer times that I've been a part of in a long time as everybody just went around the table. And we corporately repented and individually repented for having a Martha-like attitude, rather than being like Mary, you know, for wanting to be busy and wanting to do our duty with the lack of devotion.

What does what do they say? Duty without devotion is empty. And I think sometimes that's our priority in life. A lot of times we get so busy. And like God is saying, if you'll spend time with me, you'll put that margin and engage with me first, then I'm going to give you the strategy on where everything is. Seek right, and then all of these things will be added. And so we end up in that place where our homes are out of order because ultimately we only lead underneath of His leadership, right?

The Transformation that Comes from God's Presence

In authority, but under authority, you know, and New Jesus had managed, what was it? The centurion for that great faith because he was able to be, was it the centurion? Did I get that right? Yeah, because he was in authority, but also under authority. And that's where I'm trying to live, man. You know, it's like, yeah, I can always make more money, you know? Like I've got very limited time even with my kids and this age that they're in. And like looking at the world and understanding, I think that's the thing, Rob, and I'm going to try like I'm going to start crying.

But like the Lord's been just burdening me with the lost the last couple of months, like at a whole another level. And you and I both, you know, I've given a good portion of my life to help in drug addicts and people with addictions and people that don't know Christ. But like in this season that I'm in where there's like opportunity over here, you know, I got this business that I continue to focus on, but yet the Lord's bringing me back to like, you know, great, I've given you that, but how are you going to win souls in the middle of it?

And that's where where I'm at personally right now is just like waiting through all that and like, what do I do with this burden with the lost that He's given me? You know, how am I effective at evangelizing? But then also the very real fear of knowing what I experienced in previous seasons of ministry and watching the price that my family had to pay because of the call of God on my life and, you know, trying to just balance that out and make sure that, you know, ultimately I know God's got me. He's got my family and we can still be faithful to this call.

The Need for Clear Vision and Intentionality

And yeah, it's, you know, it's very interesting that you say this because I love how you're tying this in because this is what's also very important to have with the novel and something that I learned at that weekend gathering is having a clear vision. Not just for your home in general, but if you're married, for your marriage, what is the clear vision? I talked to one of my leaders just the other day and he's like, "Rob, my wife hit me with a hard question." He's like, "My wife said, 'Hey, John, what's the vision?'"

And he's like, "Rob, dude, I could give you the vision for the business. I can give you the vision for all these other things." But he's like, "I couldn't give you a clear vision for my marriage." He's like, "And it really hit me hard when he heard this." And so, what’s that, brother? How are you, John? But it hit him hard. And so I say all this to kind of like piggyback on what you were just mentioning about the heart for the lost and being able to kind of pivot away from your business for a season to be able to pursue what it is you believe the Lord has laid upon your heart.

But it's taking that and saying, "Hey, my love, Ashley, this is what I believe the Lord has laid upon my heart. Now, as my helper, because I know that's what the Lord has positioned you in my life as, can we come to the Lord together about this matter?" Because I can't do it away from our parts from you. And I think we, just like you were saying before, it's like we act and then we ask God. But God is like, "Hey, look, I'm going to give it to you.

Navigating Ministry and Personal Sacrifice

But I also need to teach you how to cultivate that within your own heart." You know what I mean? It's like, because then you're going in two separate directions. Yeah. Because if you're going one way, I mean, she's going another way, it's not going to work. It's not going to thrive. And I think that's something that I've acknowledged in my own marriage. It's like, I'm not the, I don't even really have a clear target. I haven't had a clear target because I've been so consumed with, "I got to make this money. I got to provide for my family."

And then I had this chat with you the other day. And I was just like, "Man, dude, I know what I'm supposed to be doing. I know where I'm gifted. But I'm so fearful that the provision from my gift will not be enough for me to be able to continue to live my life." You know, it's just people don't, and pastors and ministers and missionaries, and God bless them all, you know, but they don't talk about the fact that sometimes you pray for the finances when serving in ministry and it never comes.

You know what I'm saying? And I've lived that. You know, I've seen the cutoff notices come when we hadn't had enough money to pay the power bill at the ministry at times. And people want to like paint everything with these rose-colored glasses and, you know, it's prosperity and, you know, everything's growing and it's good. But people don't talk about the real struggle and sacrifice that comes on the other side of ministry.

Learning from Experience in Ministry

I was looking at some notes I wrote down and I had a note in my iPhone from years ago where I had sat down and I just journaled my thoughts in the moment. And we had just finished a team challenge graduation family weekend service. And we had a bunch of students graduate that weekend. And I wrote in the notes, I said, "I'm simultaneously living right in the middle of the joy of watching all these students graduate, but also the grief of having to talk to a mom who had just lost their child, who pulled their application from the program."

And we walked in the middle of those emotions for years. And then you add the financial stress on top of it. So sometimes it's like pursuing the Lord does come at a cost. And that's the, there's no sugar coating that, you know? There's no way to kind of make it, make it more appealing or, you know, more fancy than it is. There is a real sacrifice. And there's a real cost to serving in ministry and pursuing the call of God on your life. And sometimes that’s not pretty.

Embracing the Call and Building the Future

And I think that's where I've had to work on the last three and a half years since coming out of team challenge. My experiences there were my experiences there. That doesn’t necessarily mean I'm going to experience that in the next season of ministry. So Lord, help me to have learned from that, but put it behind me and know that it matured me so that I don't project that onto the next season of ministry. Because it could look different, you know?

But that I think that's why we wrestle with it. And we know we want to work and we want to go so hard. And you know, yes, we seek God, we trust God. And I mean, there are a lot of faithful good ministers out there. And I've heard all these quotes, you know, where the provision always comes with the vision, you know, I'm saying where God guides, He provides.

You know, no, sometimes that guiding is to a place of suffering and hardship. And it's not always a big check on the other end of it. You know, and so these little antidotal statements that we throw out to try to get people motivated, there is a cost to picking up the cross and following Jesus. And I just, you know, I struggle, you know, I struggle with that sometimes. And I can't sugarcoat it, you know, that it's, it's difficult. And only by the grace of God will I continue to be faithful because Justin is running from it at any opportunity. But because of the grace of God and the work that He's done in me, I only am able to endure because of what He's put in me, not because of anything in myself.

The Call to Community and Partnership

Yeah, I wasn't so good. We are there, man. That was a lot of our ability here on social media. So, you know, well, you know, it's funny, man, because like that brings me back to when Danielle and I first got back or first got married. And we moved to Florida when we left San Adolf, San Adolf Island to challenge. And we were living in my mom's house for the first born, Josiah.

And a gentleman by the name of Chris Trance, he was a missionary and still is a missionary, wonderful man of God. And he is basically in Ethiopia maybe 10 times out of the year and are 10 months out of the year. And so simply put, he, I wanted to work with him. And it was so challenging because it's like, "Hey Rob, I could only give you $10 an hour."

And you have to like raise the rest of your money, you know? And I'm like, in my mind, like, "Oh, that's not possible. Like I'm just married. Like I have a kid. Like, what am I going to do?" It was just, everything in me wanted to go and just do it. But the fear of the unknown robbed me from the opportunity to be a vessel used by God.

The Journey of Faith and Trusting God's Plan

And so I look back at that quite often. And I'm not mad with where I'm at in my life because I'm the Lord has definitely blessed me in many different ways. But sometimes, man, sometimes I ask myself, and I say, "Lord, forgive me for not being obedient." You know, because it's sometimes God's calling us to something. And there's so much of us that gets involved in feeling the emotion.

But if we can just say, "Yes, Lord. Yes, God," that's good. And so I've realized when I am absent from God and I don't invest in my time with God, I cannot offer and give to others what He has fully offered and given unto me.

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