Every Wednesday morning myself along with four or five other individuals gather to go through this book called the unhurried life. This book is about taking time to slow down and practice being instead of doing, since in fact we are “Human Beings”. One of the chapters we are going through is titled Maturity and in it, it has some good points that I tend not to think about very often. During most of these gatherings, I tend to not really say anything, rather I listen, and or read along in the book. However, this week something the author mentions in the passage grabbed my attention:
“I am also hopeful that such leaders will stop using people to further their own ministry goals and instead, by serving these people, enable them to offer their own God-given ministries for the good of the kingdom. God longs that each one of us would come to share in the life of the Son, growing up into the fullness of who Jesus is. Leaders aren’t so much responsible for maturing in the body, but for preparing all of God’s people to take responsibility for our own mutual maturing.” (Fadling, 149) Reading this passage was very convicting for me. If anyone knows me, they know that I love encouraging and investing into people, as well as seeing them through times of difficulty. This would explain why I chose counseling and psychology to pursue a degree in. This passage did two things for me. One, it caused me to stop and reflect on the things I am in doing in life and see if in fact I am actually being, and two, making me realize that nothing is really about me.
Last week, I shared with you a story and passage from scripture that has stuck with me for two weeks and honestly still does. It was the story of the Woman at the well and her encounter with Jesus. As I continued reading this passage there was another verse, that once I read the passage from this book I mentioned, the Lord made this a bit more clear in my life. “They said to the woman, we no longer believe in him because of what you said; now we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this man really is the Savior of the world.” John 4:42. This woman who encountered Jesus, went and told everyone in her village what Jesus had done, which caused the people to come and encounter Jesus for themselves. The Lord was able to help me see that what I do, is not dependent on me, rather it is dependent on him.
As I went through the rest of the week, this passage and this verse really helped me to sort through some things. One of the opportunities that God has granted me, is the honor of mentoring other individuals. As I met with one person, we were actually going through this portion of scripture, and I remember telling him that I want us to get to a point in this mentoring process where he will tell me exactly what the people told the woman “It is no longer because of you, but because we ourselves encountered Jesus.” It was actually quite rewarding being able to tell him this and have him agree. I believe this was exactly what Fadling, the author of this book was trying to convey. This concept of not about us, that has been around since the beginning of time. is starting to make more and more sense to me as I continue in life. I am not saying that you don’t continue to invest in those that have been entrusted to you, rather I am saying realize, there is another force at hand running the show.
God, really encouraged my heart through this, and allowed me the opportunity to trust in him even more in certain situations. Through this he also reminded me that yes, indeed he does choose us as HIS own possession for his purposes, but HE can also choose not to use us for a time being. I would just like to close and say thank you Lord for this reminder and a very hard lesson for some of us including me.
Let them see you in us Lord!
