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LaunchPad: Day 10 · Equipped: A Podcast Platform for the Equip Ministry of Cuyahoga Valley Church

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_00: When I went away to college at 17, I was pretty certain I knew what my life was going to look like.
• 0:05
  SPEAKER_00: I had a plan.
• 0:06
  SPEAKER_00: I was going to be a professional soccer goalie and tour as a Christian musician in the offseason.
• 0:12
  SPEAKER_00: It seemed perfectly reasonable to 17-year-old me.
• 0:15
  SPEAKER_00: I had grown up deeply impacted by Christian artists who use music to tell the story of what God had done in their lives.
• 0:22
  SPEAKER_00: And I wanted to do the same.
• 0:24
  SPEAKER_00: But then I got to college and realized how unlikely it was that I would get to do that with my life.
• 0:30
  SPEAKER_00: I moved from music performance into music education because it seemed like the most natural way to keep doing music.
• 0:36
  SPEAKER_00: Then I took a conducting class and a nearby church posted an opening for a choir director.
• 0:41
  SPEAKER_00: If everybody showed up, there were about 12 people in the choir, and the lead soprano had a vibrato wider than the Cuyahoga River.
• 0:50
  SPEAKER_00: I took the job mostly to make a little money, but really to get some experience while doing something I was passionate about.
• 0:56
  SPEAKER_00: A few weeks later, after I took the job, they asked if I could direct the Christmas cantata.
• 1:01
  SPEAKER_00: I said yes, just as soon as I figure out what that word means.
• 1:06
  SPEAKER_00: That Christmas Eve, somewhere between directing that little choir and a handbell ensemble filled with wonderfully feisty senior ladies, I was overwhelmed with purpose.
• 1:17
  SPEAKER_00: I remember sensing God making something clear to me.
• 1:21
  SPEAKER_00: This is what I created you for.
• 1:23
  SPEAKER_00: I created you to lead people in worship.
• 1:26
  SPEAKER_00: That began years of vocational ministry, which eventually included helping start a church here in Cleveland.
• 1:31
  SPEAKER_00: I loved that work so much.
• 1:33
  SPEAKER_00: We were completely sold out to the mission of reaching people and helping people love God, love people, and serve the world.
• 1:40
  SPEAKER_00: Then, unexpectedly and painfully, that door closed.
• 1:46
  SPEAKER_00: What followed was nine years outside of vocational ministry.
• 1:50
  SPEAKER_00: But they weren't nine years of God doing nothing.
• 1:53
  SPEAKER_00: Those years included some of the deepest suffering, healing, growth, family life, ministry, and grace that I have ever experienced.
• 2:01
  SPEAKER_00: God was at work in ways I could see and in so many that I couldn't, of course.
• 2:07
  SPEAKER_00: During that time, whenever someone asked if I thought I would return to full-time ministry, my answer every time was, I'm always open to whatever God has for me.
• 2:17
  SPEAKER_00: Then one night at a CBC Youth Winter retreat, Pastor Joe asked, Hey, any chance you'd want to come talk with us about being the invite director?
• 2:26
  SPEAKER_00: A door opened.
• 2:28
  SPEAKER_00: Yesterday, as we looked at the verses immediately before today's passage, we saw what Nehemiah did when the king asked, What are you requesting?
• 2:37
  SPEAKER_00: He prayed.
• 2:39
  SPEAKER_00: That wasn't the beginning of Nehemiah's conversation with God.
• 2:42
  SPEAKER_00: He had already spent months grieving, fasting, praying, and carrying the burden God had placed on his heart.
• 2:48
  SPEAKER_00: Then we arrive at verse six.
• 2:51
  SPEAKER_00: How long will you be gone and when will you return?
• 2:54
  SPEAKER_00: And Nehemiah has an answer.
• 2:56
  SPEAKER_00: He didn't force the door open, but when God opened it, he was ready.
• 3:01
  SPEAKER_00: I love Paul's encouragement to us on how to be ready for moments like those.
• 3:06
  SPEAKER_00: In Colossians 4, 2 through 6, he tells us to continue steadfastly in prayer, be watchful in it with thanksgiving, pray that God may open a door for the word, walk in wisdom toward outsiders, make the best use of the time, and let our speech be gracious, always be gracious, so that we know how we ought to answer each person.
• 3:32
  SPEAKER_00: What an incredible prayer for an ordinary day.
• 3:35
  SPEAKER_00: Keep praying, stay watchful, give thanks, ask God to open doors, walk wisely, use the time he gives you well, let your words be gracious.
• 3:46
  SPEAKER_00: We have no idea how God is preparing us for right now.
• 3:51
  SPEAKER_00: Or maybe you feel completely certain about what comes next.
• 3:54
  SPEAKER_00: I did too at 17 when I was preparing for my MLS draft and recording contract.
• 4:00
  SPEAKER_00: I've learned to hold certainty with a little humility since then.
• 4:04
  SPEAKER_00: We never know what doors or detours tomorrow may bring.
• 4:08
  SPEAKER_00: And the open door may not look dramatic.
• 4:10
  SPEAKER_00: It may not involve standing before a king or being offered a new ministry position.
• 4:16
  SPEAKER_00: It might be an annoying coworker who suddenly tells you what's really happening in their life.
• 4:22
  SPEAKER_00: It might be a family member or a friend who calls you when you're already exhausted.
• 4:27
  SPEAKER_00: It might simply be someone who gives you an opportunity to point them toward Jesus.
• 4:32
  SPEAKER_00: You don't have to know which door God is going to open in order to become ready to walk through it.
• 4:38
  SPEAKER_00: So continue steadfastly in prayer, stay watchful, give thanks, walk wisely, ask God to open doors, and trust Him with what comes next.
• 4:50
  SPEAKER_00: Here's a question to consider.
• 4:52
  SPEAKER_00: What would it look like for you to continue steadfastly in prayer, stay watchful with thanksgiving, and ask God to open a door for the gospel?
• 5:03
  SPEAKER_00: Here's a prompt for prayer.
• 5:05
  SPEAKER_00: Lord, during this time of prayer and fasting, help me to pray faithfully, watch expectantly, live thankfully, walk wisely, and speak graciously.
• 5:17
  SPEAKER_00: God open the doors that you want opened and help me to recognize them when you do.
• 5:23
  SPEAKER_00: Draw me close to you and prepare me to be able to respond when you do open the doors.
• 5:30
  SPEAKER_00: In Jesus' name.
• 5:31
  SPEAKER_00: Amen.