Tim O’Neill
National Leader
Where fire meets faith: Rod's Story
Rod was having a burning bush moment when he said, “I had no idea why we came here but just felt we should.”
Some time later Rod (not his real name) emailed me and said:
On the last day of the Conference my wife and I answered the call to plant a church. I have never felt so free. Or so filled with purpose. What this all means, we have no idea at this point, just 5 days after, but we know that wherever and however we go, God will be with us and be holding us every step of the way. I’m not going to say that I don’t have any fear in me at all because that would be a lie, but I finally have Rest. And I thank God for that.”
So what happened? I’ve come to learn that sometimes where we position ourselves is all important in discovering who Jesus is calling us to be and what He is calling us to do. That was certainly the case with Rod and the extraordinary way God not only spoke to Rod but confirmed His call.
THE STORY BEGINS at the Exponential Conference in Orlando, Florida in March 2022 when from the stage the speaker said “I want you to pray for the person next to you”. So I quickly looked to my left to see who was there. I didn’t actually know this person at all. I later found out that his name was Rod. The speaker then asked us all to see if the Holy Spirit was giving us something to say for the person we were praying for and so I prayed for Rod.
I started praying but there wasn’t anything really clear. But then there was the tiniest inkling and so I said to Rod that “God has been trying to get your attention but you haven’t really noticed that and you’ve kept on going rather than stopping to listen to His Spirit and allowing Him to guide you.”
The Holy Spirit then gave me more to say and I grew in confidence that the slight inkling really was the Holy Spirit speaking.
I felt that I was being carried along by the Spirit and spoke of Exodus chapter 3 about the bush that doesn’t burn up and that it wasn’t until Moses turned aside that he actually could hear the voice of God and He was actually calling Rod to turn aside and listen to the Holy Spirit.
Then I said to Rod, “I don’t know if this means anything to you”. His response was to burst into tears and hug me!
Rod then told me that he wasn’t sure why he was at the Conference as he had only been a Christian for about six years and had a really bad background beforehand. I said that I sensed that God was calling him into ministry but he said, “but who am I?” I told him that’s what Moses said in Exodus chapters 3 and 4 as he expressed doubt about his own adequacy. But God made it clear that it wasn’t about who Moses was but who God was and what God could do.
I then asked Rod where he went to church and he mentioned the Wesleyan church he was part of. We then sat down to watch two video advertisements before the next session component.
The first advertisement was for a finance group. It wasn’t really relevant to where Rod or I were at until a person on the video started talking about the burning bush and Moses turning aside to hear from God. Coincidence?
The second of the two advertisements was from a Wesleyan seminary inviting people called to church planting and ministry to apply to study and be equipped at the seminary. As the advertisement was playing, I looked around Rod and Rod looked at me. I said, “some coincidence isn’t it!” Rod responded, “I don’t believe in coincidences anymore!”
That was the only time throughout the whole conference we heard either a Wesleyan Seminary or the burning bush mentioned.
A short while later after I had returned to Australia, I received an email from Rod which in part said:
“For the past few years or so God has put the call of planting a church on mine and my wife’s hearts but every time it came up I denied that it could be true. I would make every excuse in the book as to why it couldn’t be me. And that I wasn’t worthy of such a mission. I had lived as such a coward for the first 35 years of my life, and I never thought things could be so different. I never thought my life could mean anything to anyone until I found that God would and could use me in certain little situations and as time went by it became more and more clear… I finally had a purpose for breathing. I had searched daily for this feeling of purpose my entire life. I had lived an entire lifetime of low self-worth, so my immediate reaction was to bring others down with me. I was as selfish as any man could be and participated in things that only benefited in my wellbeing. How could God use such a person as me. I had read all the Bible stories where God would use the lesser then but, “no way that could be me”.
“When you said the words, “He’s calling you Rod”. I heard them. And probably for the first time ever I fully believed them. I can’t tell you in one email just how lost I was 6 years ago and how all I wanted to do was end this life of misery. But that was my truth then. That was all I had to grasp onto then. How powerful and full of mercy the Lord is that He can change so much in just a few breaths.
On the last day of the Conference my wife and I answered the call to plant a church. I have never felt so free. Or so filled with purpose. What this all means, we have no idea at this point, just 5 days after, but we know that wherever and however we go, God will be with us and be holding us every step of the way. I’m not going to say that I don’t have any fear in me at all because that would be a lie, but I finally have Rest. And I thank God for that.”
For Rod, his wife and their children the journey has been life changing. Perhaps Jesus has a burning bush moment in store for you or someone you know?
And perhaps coming to or bringing others to the 2025 Exponential Australia National Conference “Greater Things” will position you or your friends to hear God’s call in a way that you might never have imagined?
(Just last month I heard again from Rod. He and his wife still have a conviction about planting a church and are still on that journey of being equipped and ascertaining where and when.)
