Dear Friends,
Sunday was the culmination of a perfect pulpit storm.
It was Jean’s birthday, and my son had flown up from Savannah to
surprise her. He and two of my daughters spent the day rearranging our
bedroom to make things easier for their mom to navigate with her walker.
Jean and I watched “helplessly” as the three of them spent
the day renovating our living quarters. They moved things, reorganized things,
threw out things, all to my dismay and discomfort.
I am a person who admittedly struggles with change, and as I
watched the total reorganization of our bedroom, I had the feeling my life was
becoming a reorganizational casualty.
It was Sanctity of Life Sunday, and I was scheduled to preach.
In the midst of all this chaos of change, I tried to put the
finishing touches on my message.
When I walked into church on Sunday with message in hand, I
knew something was going on inside of me that made me anxious and
uncomfortable. I sat there praying as the worship team finished leading us in
worship, and when it was time for me to step to the pulpit and teach, I felt
totally unprepared and overwhelmed with the challenge before me. My legs were
unsteady, my eyes blurred, and I felt naked before the congregation. And
standing there before them I recognized I was unable to share a thing I had
prepared to teach.
Embarrassingly I spoke from my heart as I told them what had been
going on inside of me the last couple of days, and I apologized for my
inability to deliver the message God had given me. I suggested that maybe the
best thing we could do was to gather in groups and pray, but I didn’t even have
the energy to organize them to do it, and so I simply sheepishly walked
off the platform.
And then Pastor Jared graciously stepped to the pulpit,
organized our time of prayer, and he prayed that God would use this time to do
a mighty work in my life, and in the lives of those who were present for
worship. We prayed in groups, and when we had finished, I was suddenly
surrounded by the whole congregation who laid hands on me and prayed over me.
I thought of Paul’s words “I am with you; that is all you need. My
power shows up best in weak people.” 2 Corinthians 12:9 (TLB)
It’s hard for us to admit our needs and difficult to acknowledge
our weakness.
But God can transform a burden into a wonderful blessing. He can
use it to humble us and remind us of our weakness, and in doing so, He protects
us from the kind of arrogance and pride that can hinder and undermine our
ministry.
Recognizing our weakness makes us more and dependent upon God,
something that is critical for all of us to understand and accept.
It is in our weakness that our strength can be provided, for God
doesn’t only use our strengths in ministry; He uses our weaknesses as well.
Paul says, “God comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can
comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.”
(2 Corinthians 1: 4 NIV)
So, looking back on this pulpit experience, I am glad to be
reminded that God will use even the bad stuff in our lives and use it for our
good and His glory.
Yours in faith, and still learning and still growing at 81!!!!!!
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