Dear Small Church Pastor,
“I hope you’re wearing your steel-toed boots today.” I’ve said that to my congregations from time to time when I had a message from God that was one of those pills that’s hard to swallow, but needs to be taken in. So, put on your boots, and I pray you’ll receive this letter in the spirit of brotherly love in which it is sent.
Sometimes, probably more often than we like to admit, God will ask us to do something we really don’t want to do. We all have our likes and dislikes, our pet peeves, our preferences. These often control our words, actions and reactions to life’s varying situations. There are things we simply prefer not to do if we get our way. There are people we don’t particularly like to be around, and there are situations into which we don’t go because we don’t want to be in those situations.
Moses didn’t want to go back to Egypt to be the deliverer God told him to go be. Gideon didn’t want to go fight the army of Midian. Jonah didn’t want to go preach repentance to Ninevah. I could go on, but you get the picture.
God will select someone and give that someone a special job to do without regard to whether or not the someone wants to do the job. I am of the opinion that God may even choose someone because He knows he/she doesn’t want to do what God wants them to do. God knows the outcome He seeks, and He knows who will be the best one to achieve that outcome if the someone will rely on God to accomplish whatever the task is. Remind yourself that God knows more than all of us put together.
Now, here comes the rub—Are we willing to do what we don’t want to do because God wants us to do it? Ouch! Are we willing to set aside our wants so God’s will can be accomplished? Will we obey the voice of God, or do we insist on doing things according to our preferences, our likes and dislikes, our “want-to’s?”
Allow me to give you an example from my own ministry. At the conclusion of one of my pastorates, I left the church feeling controlled and abused. I was at a bad place spiritually and even considered ending my ministry efforts. I made up my mind that I would not step into a similar situation again. I had decided that I would not pastor a small church again.
However, God had other plans. Through a series of devotions that “just seemed to fall at that time” and times of prayer, scripture reading and contemplation, He reminded me of who was in control of my ministry and who it was who opened opportunities to me for ministry. God reminded me that He was placing me where He wanted me. God also reminded me that obedience to His will pleases Him more than anything else we can do.
I mentioned Moses, Gideon and Jonah earlier. Let’s remember something about these people who finally obeyed God and did what He wanted, instead of what they wanted. Moses did lead the people of Israel out of Egyptian bondage and oversaw the operation of an entire nation for a little over forty years. Gideon did lead a small army of God-selected warriors against impossible odds and defeated the Midianites. Jonah did preach to Ninevah, resulting in an entire city turning to God in repentance.
They were all successful. They were all blessed for their efforts. They were all used by God to bring glory and honor to God. They all were taught, guided and empowered by God to accomplish what He wanted them to do. They obeyed the call and the outcome accomplished much for the kingdom of God.
I need to ask you now, is God asking you to do something you don’t want to do? Is God calling you back into the fray of fighting for His goals, not yours? Is God opening a door for you to walk through, even if you think you know all the detractors on the other side of the door? Is God asking you to obey His voice, His will, instead of following your wants?
Sincerely,
A Small Church Pastor