Learning from Moses

It is said that God does not call the equipped, He equips the called.  Moses is often a standard example of this: God chose an elderly, stuttering shepherd to be His envoy to Pharaoh and to lead the Hebrews out of Egypt and into the promised land.  Despite all of Moses’ insistence that he was not the man for the job, God equipped him so that he could be.  Moses heard the call, he just needed some reassurance that the destination outside his comfort zone was indeed where God was leading him.  

So what did all this mean in a more nuts-and-bolts, rubber-meets-the-road, boots-on-the-ground reality?  It means that I now feel open to outcomes that I had previously dismissed as not compatible with my talents, with who I am and with how I relate to others.  I had previously dismissed the possibility of going to PESM, getting ordained and going to work for one of my denomination’s churches as a pastor.  Now I’m open to that if that’s where God wants me.  I had previously dismissed pursuing an MDiv degree since its main purpose it to equip one for full time ministry and church leadership (I wanted an MA in Biblical Studies & Theology so I could get a teaching job).  Now I’m thinking that an MDiv is the degree I should pursue since it will prepare me for both teaching and ministry, so that too has been added to the list of “if that’s where God wants me.”  

I discussed all this with one of my pastors.  I was concerned that I was considering attending PESM in order to see what God will do with that, rather than entering with the intent to become an ordained pastor and lead a church--which is basically PESM’s primary mission.  I didn’t want to give the impression that I was entering under false pretenses.  My pastor allayed those concerns and was actually encouraging and excited about this journey I was proposing.  He wrote my letter of reference and sent it in and I mailed in my application.  

A few weeks later my pastor told me I was “in” after the PESM faculty met and agreed to raise their enrollment cap.  Had they not done so, I would have had to wait another year to get in.  Now I’m just waiting on whatever official “you’re in the program” material that new students get--info on residency, required books, etc.