Still Pressing Toward the Higher Calling

As I approach my fortieth year as a preacher, my mind keeps returning to a seventeen-year-old boy who had very little idea what one fifteen-minute sermon would become.

I was seventeen when my spiritual father, Reverend George Adegboye, told me after an all-night prayer meeting that I would preach at his son’s first birthday celebration that evening.

For someone who had never preached publicly before, it felt enormous.

Of course, I had preached many times before then in my imagination, just never to an actual congregation.

But imagination is one thing.

Standing before real people and speaking God’s Word is another.

I prayed throughout the day. I studied, prepared, and rehearsed. I went over what I wanted to say again and again, doing everything a seventeen-year-old boy could do to prepare for fifteen minutes that suddenly felt much bigger than fifteen minutes.

Then the moment came.

I stood before the people.

And I preached.

When I was done, Reverend George appeared satisfied.

He said only a few words, but those words have remained with me for forty years.

“I can see it.”

Perhaps he saw something I could not yet see.

Not long afterwards, he began sending me to school campuses to preach. Those assignments became my training ground. They gave me opportunities to grow, not only as a preacher, but in my understanding of God’s Word, my dependence on Him, and my walk with Him.

One assignment became another.

One audience became another.

And somehow, fifteen minutes became forty years.

That seventeen-year-old boy could never have imagined where those first fifteen minutes would lead.

I have married the most amazing woman in the world, and together we have raised four wonderful children.

I have had the privilege of standing before thousands to preach the Gospel and, through various platforms, reaching millions more.

I have watched thousands give their lives to Christ.

I have witnessed the miraculous countless times.

I have watched churches planted across nations and continents.

I have travelled to places I could not have imagined visiting and met people I could never have imagined meeting. Again and again, I have had the extraordinary privilege of watching God use my life in ways that the seventeen-year-old boy standing before his mirror could never have planned for himself.

But forty years cannot be told only through pulpits, crowds, testimonies and victories.

There have been difficult seasons too.

There have been moments of great fulfilment and moments that demanded perseverance. There have been times when the journey was exhilarating and times when faithfulness simply meant continuing to put one foot in front of the other.

There have been lessons success could never have taught me.

There have been lessons that could only come through disappointment, waiting, pressure and experience.

And there have been people God brought into my life at precisely the right time, people who encouraged me, corrected me, prayed with me, believed in me, stood with me and helped shape the man and minister I have become.

Looking back at all of it, the mountains and the valleys, the miracles and the lessons, the victories and the difficult seasons, one word rises above everything else in my heart:

Gratitude.

I am grateful for the call.

I am grateful for the people God used to shape me.

I am grateful for every door He opened.

I am grateful for every life He allowed me to touch.

And yes, I am grateful even for the difficult seasons, because they taught me things comfort could never have taught me.

Forty years later, I can look back and say:

God has been faithful.

But as strongly as I feel gratitude, there is something else stirring in my heart as I approach this milestone.

I AM NOT FINISHED.

Forty years in ministry gives me many reasons to look back with gratitude.

But it gives me no reason to become satisfied with where I am.

The words of the Apostle Paul in Philippians 3:13–14 continue to challenge me. After all he had experienced and accomplished, Paul still spoke of reaching forward and pressing toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.

After forty years, I understand those words differently.

There is always more of God to know.

There are still deeper dimensions of Him I long to experience.

There are still people to reach.

There are still lives to influence.

There are still lessons to learn.

There are still assignments to fulfil.

There is still more ahead.

The goal was never simply to be able to say that I preached for forty years.

The goal is to remain faithful to the One who called me.

Because longevity by itself is not the prize.

Faithfulness is.

When I think again of that seventeen-year-old boy preparing for his first fifteen-minute sermon, I realise that God did not show him the details of the next forty years.

He showed him the nations.

He showed him the crowds.

He showed him the churches that would be planted.

He showed him the miracles.

However, He didn’t show him the difficult seasons.

He didn’t show him the entire journey.

He simply gave him the next step.

Preach for fifteen minutes.

And perhaps that is one of the greatest lessons these forty years have taught me:

God does not always show us the entire journey.

Sometimes, He simply gives us enough light for the next step and asks us to trust Him with everything beyond it.

That seventeen-year-old took his step.

Forty years later, I am still taking mine.

And if I could speak to that young man today, knowing everything the journey would contain- the joy, the sacrifice, the victories, the disappointments, the miracles, the lessons, the people, and the privilege of serving God’s purpose- I know what I would tell him:

Say yes.

Say yes to the call.

Say yes when you understand.

Say yes when you don’t.

Say yes when the road is exciting.

Say yes when faithfulness costs you something.

Say yes when you can see what God is doing.

And when you cannot see beyond the next step, say yes anyway.

Because forty years later, after everything I have seen and experienced, I would still say yes.

FORTY YEARS OF THE CALL

On Sunday, 23rd August, it will be exactly forty years since I answered the call to preach.

To mark this milestone, I will be releasing a special video on my YouTube page, where I will share more of this journey—the joy, the lessons, the challenges, the miracles, the people, and the defining moments that have shaped these forty years.

I would love for you to watch it and celebrate this moment with me.

But for me, this anniversary is about much more than looking backwards.

It is also about looking ahead.

I celebrate forty years with a heart overflowing with gratitude for what God has done and with renewed hunger for everything that still lies ahead.

Forty years have passed.

The journey has been incredible.

The call remains.

And I am still pressing.

To everyone God has brought into my life throughout these forty years, thank you.

Thank you for your love.

Thank you for your prayers.

Thank you for your encouragement.

Thank you for the lessons.

Thank you for believing, supporting, correcting, giving, serving, and walking this journey with me.

Above all, I give all the glory to God.

The God who called a seventeen-year-old boy to preach for fifteen minutes is the same God I am still following today.

And by His grace, I intend to keep following.

To keep reaching.

To keep growing.

To keep saying yes.

And to keep pressing toward the higher calling.

Victor Adeyemi