"The wonderful thing about praying is that you leave a world of not being able to do something, and enter God’s realm where everything is possible. He specializes in the impossible. Nothing is too great for His almighty power. Nothing is too small for His love."
~ Corrie Ten Boom
Today’s blog is very personal for me. I’ve found these past weeks to be quite humbling as a pastor. And anytime I find myself humbled, the obvious question to ask is, “What pride is God helping me deal with?”
Pastoral pride
The answer in my heart is pastoral pride. I’m not necessarily proud of my speaking ability, or proud of any particular gift.
Instead, the stripe of pride that God is revealing to me is my belief that He needs me to do something special to help or grow His children.
I have a yearning to meet with people, help them, cause them to grow, etc. This isn’t wrong, of course—Paul often expressed his desire to be with the various churches he cared for.
The pride, however, comes when I find that I am anxious or frustrated when I am unable to be with God’s people and care for them personally.
Pandemics and prison
Paul was no stranger to being unable to visit the people he loved. He spent years in a Roman prison, during which time he penned some of the most impactful letters of the New Testament (Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, Philemon, often called the ‘Prison Epistles’). He also wrote 2 Timothy from jail as well. Paul was no stranger to lockdown!
Paul knew what it was like to send a message, but be unable to meet with or care for the recipients of that message.
However, rather than fear, Paul expressed his faith that God would care for these churches. He also expressed his prayers for them.
When Paul found himself unable to minister in person, he knew the Gospel was ‘not bound’ (2 Tim 2), but was doing its work.
My problem - my pride - is that I believe I need to sit with a person for them to grow. I’ve convinced myself that my physical presence is an integral part of the equation for spiritual life and growth.
But of course this isn’t true. God’s hand is not so short that He cannot move and grow His people, even when I find myself spatially separated from them. He works.
Proclamation and Prayer
The pandemic has helped uncovered a subtle belief in my heart that ministry isn’t quite as simple as the apostles taught.
Rather than simply the ministry of the ‘word and prayer’ (Acts 6:4), I’ve inserted myself into the as a critical variable in the equation. In God’s sovereign plan, this is not possible. But that doesn’t mean it’s bad—it just reminds me that He is in control.
So in God’s grace, this pandemic reminds me that I am what I always was—an instrument in God’s hands to proclaim the Word (Paul wrote letters, we live-stream, but the difference is only in time of delivery), and to pray for God’s people. His sovereign plans for His children will be fulfilled in His time and His ways, whether I’m there or not.
It is God who works and grows, and He doesn’t need me at a Starbucks meeting to do that great work, if He doesn’t want to do that. What a blessed reminder that we pastors are no less useful and no more useful than we ever have been.
We pray and teach. God works. Pandemics are no match for His great work.
