What if this IS the more that God has made me for?
Much of my childhood was spent in a smaller town. I was born in San Antonio as my dad was pastoring in La Vernia, TX. And while La Vernia is continuing to grow, it was a much smaller town when I was born.
There was a short period of time that my dad pastored in Houston and so we moved from La Vernia to the big city of Houston, but that was short-lived. From there we moved to Stockdale. My dad then pastored in Stockdale from 1985-1989. So, we lived in Stockdale from the time that I was 3 years old until I was 7 years old.
From Stockdale we moved to Corpus Christi, which by comparison was a much larger city, although there are certainly larger cities than Corpus. Our time in Corpus, however, was short-lived as well. From Corpus we moved to Rockport, TX and that is where I spent the rest of my childhood. From 3rd grade until I graduated from Rockport-Fulton High School, we lived in a small Texas town on the gulf coast.
So, yeah, most of my childhood was spent living in a smaller town. And as I grew up, especially as I got into high school and I started thinking about my future, I can remember thinking to myself, “I was made for more than this.” This may be the exact same thing that others have thought…or maybe I’m the odd one. I doubt it. None the less, I believed, if God is going to use me, it’s going to have to be in a large city somewhere else.
And to be fair, I did live in both Tulsa, OK and Fort Worth, TX for much of my adult life, living in Tulsa for 10 years and living in Fort Worth for 11. 21 years were spent in larger cities.
But then, in 2021, God made it clear that he was calling me (and my family) to serve Him and His church not in a large city, but actually back in the smaller town of Stockdale. The same small town where my dad pastored early on in my childhood, God was calling me back to!
And it’s funny. If I’m honest, teenage Kevin probably would have resisted this. Teenage Kevin probably would have said, “But God I don’t want to live in a small town again.” But that wasn’t the sense that 39-year-old Kevin had. Instead, the question that rang out in my heart was, “What if this IS the more that God has made me for?”
Now, when I think about Moses, in scripture, understand, I would never want to imply that I am putting myself on the level of his Biblical greatness. I have never had the opportunity to speak to God in a burning bush, commune with God on the top of Mt. Sinai, or lead a nation of people. If I were to compare myself to Moses, it would certainly be in his flaws and shortcomings. To those, I can certainly relate.
But Moses’ story is an interesting one. From a child he was raised in Pharoah’s house. While he was an Israelite by birth, he was raised as an Egyptian. He then fled Egypt as an adult… Not because he was trying to move to a bigger city, but Moses was really fleeing from his own sin.
Now, if Moses were like me, he may have expected that if God were to use him, it would be somewhere outside of Egypt. Maybe even in a distant land. But what did God do? God brought him back to Egypt.
And by bringing Moses back, God revealed that this was really His plan all along. Everything in Moses’ life had truly led him to this point. Every experience he had, from the time he was born, was all preparation for Moses to go back into Egypt to be used by God, ultimately to lead God’s people out of slavery.
So, let me bring you back to that question I found myself asking when God was calling me back to Stockdale. “What if this IS the more that God has made me for?”
For years I thought a big city was where I belonged and maybe even that a big city was the only place I could truly thrive. But, as I remember this sense that God was calling my family and I to move to Stockdale, I began to see the events of my life playing back in my mind, almost like watching a movie with a good twist reveal at the end. You know, the kind where the movie goes back and shows you scenes that you didn’t pick up on at first. And you realize, “Ohhh! This has all been working towards this ending.” This is what I was experiencing.
I saw how God was using my time here in Stockdale as a child and the love that the Lord had placed in my heart for this small town.
I saw how God was using my time in Rockport, because I know how to build relationships with people in a smaller town.
I saw how God was using my education to prepare me and to open this door for me.
I saw how my time serving at First Baptist Watauga as a children’s pastor, youth pastor, young adult pastor, and associate pastor equipped me for the needs of this church God was calling me to.
I saw how the pastor I served under for 11 years, who had previously served as a pastor in a small-town church had trained me to serve and to love people in a small-town, myself.
I saw how relationships that were built 30+ years earlier were bringing fruit in this calling today.
I saw all of this playing back in my mind and it hit me; God has been preparing me for this my whole life! Much of what I was trying to run away from when I was younger was actually preparation for what God was calling me to, today. So, what if this IS the more that God has made me for?
I can’t see the future, but it certainly seems like it is. And I am grateful. I could not and probably would not have orchestrated all of this on my own. But God in His great wisdom and might could and did!! I give Him praise for that!
But now, let me propose this question for you. What if this IS the more that God has made you for?
I think sometimes we become drained by the routine or maybe even the mundaneness of life. Maybe we feel like, “Surely God has made me for more than this.” But could it be that God has you right where you are on purpose and for a purpose?
Maybe you are in a season of training. Maybe you are in a season of equipping. Or maybe, just maybe, God has placed you right where you are so that He can use you to do great things for His Kingdom and His glory, right here and right now.
What if this IS the more that God has made you for?