As some of you may remember, about a year and a half ago we sold a family business. Last month we got it back. The new owners couldn't make it go and were not able to make their payments. When I sold it I never thought I would ever have to deal with it again, but things don't always go as planned. The business has been closed, an auctioneer has been contacted, and a sale date is set for mid-December. We will have a complete liquidation auction which means that I have a lot of work to do in the next three weeks. This business has been open since 1962 so you can imagine all the accumulated items we are uncovering. Everything has to be prepared for auction, so just about every spare minute is being spent working on that. That is not how I wanted to spend my time, but things don't always go as planned.
This is a concept you soon learn in ministry as well. You may have big dreams about what ministry will look like, but things don't always go as planned. Despite your best plans and efforts you will run into roadblocks that will cause those plans to change. People you thought were supportive of your efforts will occasionally begin to question your leadership. Funds will unexpectedly dry up preventing some of your ideas from happening. Marriages you thought were strong enough to weather any storm will begin to break up. Sermons that you thought would hit a home run will begin to bore even you about half-way through your delivery. In ministry, things don't always go as planned.
As you read the Bible you will quickly find that God's people have found that to be true throughout history. Israel was God's chosen people, but they found that did not prevent them from struggling at times under various oppressors. The religous leaders of Jesus' time thought they had all the answers, but when they encountered Christ they learned they didn't even understand the questions. After closely following Jesus the disciples were convinced this was the Messiah, but when they saw Him hanging on the cross they began hiding behind locked doors. Things were not going as planned.
Life and ministry often takes us down roads we had not planned to take. Each of us will encounter numerous disappointments in life, and sometimes we may even question whether or not it is worth trying any more. Believe me, it is. Time and again you will find yourself overcoming challenges you were not sure you could overcome, and when you get to the other side you will be amazed at how good it feels. No, things don't always go as planned, but God will always have the final answer. The key is to keep our eyes on Him and watch how He leads us through those challenges. Be encouraged, my friend. God is faithful, and you will come through those times when things don't go as planned.
3 comments:
One of your best posts yet...
AMEN!
When you talk about how things don't go as planned... I used to hear that from my pastors and youth ministers, and I never really understood it. Although I still don't completely understand it, experience has given me a little bit of insight. I like to think that we can't know the future because in our time continuum, it hasn't happened yet.
You say, in a later post, that God has faithfully walked with you through events in your life. What did you mean by that? I have started to wonder whether God chooses to be a passive observer or an active participant in the events in our lives (notwithstanding the ongoing activity of the Holy Spirit).
At various times in my life I have wondered where God was in the midst of issues I was going through. As I came through those experiences I have always been able to find that God was involved in some way in my journey, not as an observer but as a participant. Perhaps His participation was not always what I would have preferred, but He was working out His will in my life.
In some cases I have found that God was preparing me for some future event. More than once I have found that God has taught me some things so that I would be prepared for a future challenge or ministry opportunity. At the time I didn't always understand why I was learning a particular lesson, but later when confronted with a new opportunity I reconized God was preparing me in advance for that opportunity.
One example...in the mid-1980s I went through a clinical depression that was brought on by my refusal to keep my life in balance. I was working full time in a factory, pastoring a church, and going to Bible school which required a 200 mile round trip drive each day of class. For four years I pushed myself like that with little sleep or time for myself. Finally, my system shut down, and I required medication and counseling. I learned many lessons from that experience and the counseling. Not long after my recovery I realized how sensitive I was to others who were depressed, and how many of them were coming to me for help. I do not believe God caused me to become depressed, but I do believe God walked with me through that time in my life, and brought the right people in to help me, so that I could not only recover but so I could minister to others in similar situations. In nearly every book I write I urge the readers to maintain balance in their lives to avoid what I went through. That piece of my ministry would not have happened without that experience and the healing work of God in my life to bring me through that challenge.
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