DEPROGRAMMED: He was headed for the MLB. Instead he stepped up to the plate for God
Star outfielder Nehemiah Toles had multiple Division-I college baseball offers and MLB scouts watching him as he neared high school graduation, but he turned all of it down in pursuit of his purpose — preaching the Gospel to bring America’s youth to Jesus.
"It's the scariest thing to be gifted at something that God did not call you to… Baseball was my passion, it wasn't my purpose," Toles told Fox News Digital.
"When I stand before God… and he looks at me, he's gonna say well done, good and faithful servant. How did hitting home runs, how would that have served Him?" he continued.
FALCONS ROOKIE ZACHARIAH BRANCH SAYS CHRISTIAN FAITH, DAILY DEVOTIONALS FUEL HIS NFL JOURNEY
Toles, who now runs his own ministry traveling across the U.S. to preach the Gospel, grew up in a household with a pastor father transitioning to be an evangelist. Although surrounded by faith in his home, he admits to thinking religion and following God was "corny" during his youth.
The former baseball player revealed that he used the sport as a "coping mechanism" while dealing with anxiety and depression that peaked in school during the pandemic of 2020.
"From 13 years old to 16 years old… I felt like I struggled to connect with people, struggled to just articulate my thoughts. And so… I went back to church, [and] before I even started worshiping or anything like that, I felt the presence of God just hit me. All my anxiety, all my depression left, and I had tried everything else and nothing else was working," Toles continued.
JUST 5 MINUTES OF PRAYER COULD HAVE SURPRISING HEALTH BENEFITS, STUDY FINDS
Toles detailed one of his first experiences receiving college offers during a championship game while ranked the top outfielder in the state of Ohio, running to second base chalking up reddish brown dust in the air with the impact of each cleated step, seeing his coach on the phone from under the shadow of his baseball cap, rounding third base and finishing a home run before making it to the dugout.
"I'm in the dugout. And [my coach] he's like… before [you] touched home plate, three Division-I coaches had just confirmed," Toles continued.
He described the elation on his parents' faces and recalled his father’s tears at the news of the offers from Yale and a handful of other universities, all right before he heard the voice of God later that night alone in his room.
LOUISIANA FOOTBALL PHENOM PEYTON HOUSTON CREDITS FAITH, FAMILY FOR HIS REMARKABLE SUCCESS
"[In] the hotel room that night and I felt like the Lord had spoke[n] to me, like, 'Is that enough? Was that what you were looking for? Like, is this ever, is it going to be enough?'" he said.
Toles described serving at a community event helping children in need shortly after that game, wrestling between both destinies, finding that serving those kids was "something deeper" and "more satisfying" to him than hitting home runs or getting top college offers.
"I felt like God was calling me into full-time ministry and so… [During that] exact event, I went back to the green room and I called half of the Division-I coaches and told them I'm not going to come to their college, I'm going full-time into ministry," Toles said.
NFL LINEBACKER AND AMATEUR PREACHER DEMARIO DAVIS DELIVERS AMAZING SERMON ON WINNING AND LIFE
Despite tension with his family and multiple hard conversations with various adults, from guidance counselors to coaches and more imploring Toles to reconsider his decision, he stood firm.
"Everything that the world had offered me didn't satisfy me… I remember feeling so deceived and feeling so frustrated, because doing the things that people had told me to do [that] they said they would make me happy and would fulfill me… didn't," he added.
Toles endured pressure from all sides that eventually led him to question his choice, but when he asked God, he heard his voice clearer than ever.
"He made it so evident to me, He [said], obedience to me will always be insanity to the world," Toles said.