God Made a Way

By Sue Hayes

I want to share a glimpse of how God brought me through an incredible journey with Him. It all started with the desire of my mother’s heart that one day her children would serve the Lord. One of life’s greatest blessings is to have a godly, praying mother. She was a tremendous influence in my life and taught me to put all my trust in God. Proverbs 3:5-6 was the passage she encouraged me to memorize as my life’s verse.

When I was seven years old, I accepted the Lord during a revival service at Akron Free Will Baptist Church in Akron, Ohio. God became my priority, and I committed to serve Him. As the years passed, and as I continued to walk with the Lord, I began to desire to become a home missionary.

With the encouragement of my mother, after high school graduation, I attended Welch College. My first priority was to trust God, plain and simple. I knew if I put trust in Him for eternal wellbeing, I could trust Him for the life’s work He had for me.

“Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths” (Proverbs 3:5-6).

Attending Bible College gave me time to pray and cultivate my relationship with the Lord. The more I prayed, the more God shaped and worked out the details of my life in accordance with His will and not mine. After two years of college, I felt as though God was changing directions for my life. I wanted my life to count, and I knew if I just trusted Him, He would make a way, even though I couldn’t see the way.

And then, the day came when God made things very clear. I received a phone call from Randall House Publications. Little did I know that, as a result of that call, I would serve God for the next (almost) 40 years, working for various Free Will Baptist national ministries. It was hard to be patient and wait for His direction, but God knew what was best for me. He sees the end result.

It was hard to see the bigger picture of why God never gave me an opportunity to become a church planter. He has, however, used me for the last 25 years in my role at North American Ministries (Home Missions) to serve church planters, as well as the Free Will Baptist family across the denomination. As accounting administrator for the Church Extension Loan Fund (CELF), I have the awesome responsibility to help Free Will Baptist churches borrow money to buy property and construct facilities. Though I am not a church planter myself, every day I have an opportunity to help new churches. What a blessing!

May the Lord produce His joy and peace within us as we trust Him to do His work through us. We just need to stay focused on our calling and serve Him to the best of our abilities. Always trust God.

If you want to know more about the Church Extension Loan Fund, contact North American Ministries at 615-760-6137 or toll free at 877-767-7674.

About the Writer: Sue Hayes is accounting administrator for the CELF program with North American Ministries. Learn more: www.homemissions.net.