Jonathan Isaac Describes Moment God Called Him to Preach
By Movieguide® Contributor
Orlando Magic power forward Jonathan Isaac opened up about the moment God told him to preach and how he dealt with the fear surrounding being obedient to that calling.
He told podcaster Rebecca Lamb Weiss how one night while in bed, he had “this overwhelming feeling of preaching.”
“If we would just do what God is asking us to do, we would reap the benefits of it. But a lot of times, we want what God has for us, but we’re not obedient,” Isaac said, recalling the word God gave him in that moment. “And so I was saying that to myself, and…something was just saying, ‘Preach, preach, preach,’ and I was doing it.”
The athlete continued, “And then I went and told my pastor. I said, ‘Hey. I had this weird thing.’ He’s like, ‘You need to preach.’ I’m like, ‘I need to what?’ I’m like, ‘There’s absolutely no way I’m gonna preach.'”
Not only did Isaac’s pastor invite him to come preach, but he challenged Isaac to invite his teammates as well.
“And so [these are] the same teammates that, a few weeks ago, I was in the club with. I was doing my thing,” he explained. “I was out there, and now I’m supposed to go to them and tell them that I’m preaching in church and that I have a word and all this different stuff.”
“And he said to me, ‘Only give me your answer after you really pray about it.’ And the only way that I was able to go through it was I had to see myself through the lens of how God sees me,” Isaac concluded.
Isaac is the author of the book, “Why I Stand,” which released two years ago.
In it, he shares “the journey of how—through a series of divine connections and a willingness to follow Christ—his fear and insecurity-driven life was transformed into one of confidence and purpose. From his childhood in the Bronx to his high school years in Florida, from rail-skinny freshman at FSU to top draft pick in the NBA, Jonathan uses his life story to illuminate the freedom and peace found in the love of Jesus Christ.”
Movieguide® previously reported on Isaac’s faith described in his book:
Although Isaac surrendered his life to Christ, he writes in the book that that is when his “growing pains” started.
“The time that I decided that I’m gonna live my life for Christ, that’s when The Growing Pains really started,” he explained. “How do I balance this life of deciding to live for Christ and being an NBA basketball player who previously was living the NBA basketball player lifestyle?”
Isaac said he began to cut out bad relationships from his life and invite his teammates to church when he spoke to the congregation about his testimony.
“When the stand happened so many people came out and said Jonathan Isaac is the most courageous guy and the most bold guy but the thing that was striking to me was knowing the process that it took for me to get there. It tells me that God obviously knows the future, He obviously knows what he’s preparing us for but even more so, the only thing that is more terrifying to the enemy than us becoming a Christian is us becoming who God has created us to be and growing and forming into the image of his son and being able to do what he’s called us to do.”
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