Bailey Stone of the Baptist General Convention of Texas told students at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary Oct. 17. Stone, who serves as director of the BGCT's state missions commission, said God sometimes calls ministers to a place where difficult circumstances exist. Stone said it is important to remember that God will not forsake the one whom he has called. Preaching from the Mark 6 account of Jesus' miracle of feeding the 5,000, Stone said the disciples were confused when Jesus ordered them into the boat for departure immediately following the miracle. This is the way in which some ministers react to God when he gives direction that seems contrary to what would to be a better path, Stone said.
Many people are that way.
Stone told of a time when, as a young minister, he received a call to Odessa, Texas, to a place he did not necessarily want to go. It turned out to be one of the most critical moves in his ministry, Stone said. If I had missed Odessa, I would have missed one of the greatest challenges God ever gave me in all of my life. You and I must be willing to go where God wills though we don't understand it. So he comes down to Phrygia and Galatia, and along the borders of Mysia and wants to go into Bithynia, which is a barbaric area.