I just returned to my location after two months in the States and a week in Europe for my company’s conference. Every other year, all the teams in the region gather together for a week. I had so much fun meeting other Goers on other teams and soaking up the Mediterranean sun!
The speaker this week talked about four thoughts we run into in ministry (and in the Christian life). I came into this conference tired after an intense first year on the field, and these talks felt like a breath of fresh air. I summarized each session in hopes that it can encourage you wherever you are! God uses our questions to bring us closer to Himself.
I’m exhausted: In 1 Kings 19, Elijah comes off a powerful moment on Mount Carmel with the prophets of Baal, and after running for his life, sits under a bush, and asks God to take his life. He’s exhausted and wants to die! An angel comes to give him food and water and Elijah’s strength is restored. God knows Elijah is exhausted so He meets him there. Often in our lives, our spirits collapse when our bodies crumble. God is patient with us, He knows that we are finite beings that need food, water, and rest. We need to take care of our creature needs! (1 Kings 19:1-5, 9)
I don’t understand: Habakkuk cries out to God to intervene in Israel, and God responds by telling him that the plan is for Babylon to invade. Habakkuk is left confused and baffled. How is being invaded by Babylon a good thing? God is doing infinite good for us in every moment, even when we are confused and baffled. If we have God’s plan, then we don’t need God anymore. This pushes us to a new kind of seeing; walking by faith, not by sight or “answers.” The Lord sovereignly guides the storms in our lives to bring us to Him. (Habakkuk 1:2-17, 2:13-18, 3:2)
Am I making a difference?: Jeremiah spends his life as a prophet warning the Israelites that if they do not repent, destruction will come. Despite his warnings, destruction does come: Jerusalem falls to the Babylonians. Jeremiah wrote Lamentations to weep over the fall of Jerusalem, and wrote 1 & 2 Kings to show why Jerusalem fell. When God calls Jeremiah, he doesn’t promise success. He only promises that the Lord is with him. Jeremiah shows us that sometimes if we do everything right, everything God asks us to do, we will be unsuccessful in the world’s eyes. We have to let go of outcomes and accept the role God asks us to play in His story. (Jeremiah 1:4-19, 20:17-18, 45, 17:5-8)
God, where are you?: Mary goes to check the tomb after Jesus died, and realizes that Jesus’s body is not there. He has been taken, and she has lost God. Sometimes we lose track of God in our souls. We experience frustration when our idea of God is different from our experience of God. While Mary is outside the tomb weeping, Jesus calls out Mary’s childhood name: “Maryam!” Mary hears her childhood name and instantly recognizes Jesus. Sometimes in order to go forward, we need to go backward and be reminded of where we’ve been with God. We need to let Him call our names and take us back to our early days with Him. When we look back, we can see the Lord's steady faithfulness in our lives. (John 20:1-13)