Trusting His Call

By Noah Ramirez

“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” 

Romans 15:13

In the book of Hebrews, chapter 11, there are listed examples of people who had been called by the Lord to go, and they obeyed by faith. Why faith, you may ask? Well, that is because, when one is called by the Lord, they may not have the luxury of knowing the end result. 

“Faith shows the reality of what we hope for; it is the evidence of things we cannot see.” Hebrews 11:1

When we are given the opportunity to obey by faith, sometimes we get to see the Lord work all things out for our good, and our faith turns to trust! Now is the part where we will look at the many callings of Joy of Being House Church. In 2022, Springhill house church was growing too large for the Boyd house and they were looking to multiply. This meant, new shepherds and new workers were needed to go out and get this new “church plant” started.

Now typically the first thought in my head is not “that's a perfect job for college students,” but the Lord had EXACTLY that in mind! I got to talk to the house church shepherds about their thoughts/conversations with God throughout this process, and their responses were indicative of a journey of trust, “I was a little surprised at how quickly God was working, so I was asking for help to depend on him and not my own strength. My tendency is to try and control what happens in my life, but this was beyond my control so I had to learn to trust the Spirit.” “Quickly” is the appropriate word to use for the way God guided our direction with Joy of Being.

In a matter of months, connections from both Sinclair Community College and the University of Dayton started coming out of nowhere! The Lord continued to open doors to new relationships, new opportunities and even used current careers to firmly plant us where He needed us to be. Here are just a small number of the events that the Lord allowed to unfold over those months:

Jake, while working for the government as an engineer, was asked to pursue a Masters Degree at the University of Dayton, during the exact semesters that Joy of Being would start.

Anthony, while also working as an engineer for the government, switched job locations from Cincinnati to Beavercreek, around the exact same time he purchased a house that is five minutes from the University campus (which is the house Joy of Being now meets in).

Hamza, who was raised Muslim and joined the family of Christ March of 2023, started school at Sinclair Community college, and “being completely filled with joy and peace” started to share his testimony to many fellow peers. Which has now turned into a Bible study on campus.

As much as these events strengthened and encouraged us to be confident, there were also many roadblocks that came to discourage us.

As our house church began in October of 2023, we experienced a lot of hardship from within and from outside this new community. Whether it was the stress from everyday life to health issues or the pain and strain of vulnerable relationships, it seemed as though a heavy weight was rolling over us as a group. Although these events were a catalyst for discouragement, they were also a very healthy reminder to trust in the Lord to strengthen us to persevere.

We all grew as a group and as individuals in learning to trust the Lord no matter what is falling down around us. Currently, the Lord has been opening and closing doors left and right, moving our direction in a continuously unpredictable path. Being along for the ride has been such a blessing, and I (we) am looking forward to what lies ahead, as we continue to learn how to trust his calling.