Des Moines Bible Institute

…I will follow,” is how the old Hymn goes. Or, is it, “maybe I’ll follow.” Or, “If nothing else in my life interferes, I’ll follow.”

Early in my Seminary days, our school president challenged the students to go wherever God led them after graduating. Whether it was the mission field, a big church, a little church, a rural church or a large metro area. He emphasized that even small, rural counties had people who needed Jesus.

I ended up with my first church being in a very small county in southern Iowa. The total population of the county was 7,000 people. I thank God for the four years in that church. We saw people saved and baptized. There were good times and difficult times. God grew me through that experience. If I hadn’t followed his leading, I would have missed out on all those experiences and lessons.

At first glance, it seems common sense that a man called to the ministry will be willing to go wherever God leads him. However, this is not always the case.

For example, a few years ago we offerred an associate pastor position for one year with a $50,000 salary. I wrote letters to five different Bible colleges and visited several campuses to recruit a person for the ministry. We received only two responses and neither of them were qualified.

We decided to go to a large Bible college in Chicago to recruit for two days. There were over 1,500 students on campus. There was only one student who showed any interest. I was amazed! Weren’t these students preparing to serve the LORD?

I spoke to the director of placement and shared my experience. He told me that many of the students come to Chicago and fall in love with the city and don’t want to leave. And also, that many of them had plans to go back to their home church with which they were familiar.

How has God called you? Where has He called you? I encourage you to prayerfully seek the Lord’s leading and go wherever He leads. There are people everywhere who need to hear the Gospel. Souls are in the balance. Be willing to say and sing, “Where He leads me, I will follow.”

– Shawn Barr