As I’ve set off on this new adventure of starting a church, I’ve made no secret of the fact that parts of it have been terrifying. Never have I stuck my neck out so far and believed God for so much. Some days I am going strong and believing God for the provision of all our needs, and then other days I’m not so certain.
I feel so inadequate for all the challenges, but then God sends a constant source of encouragement – the people who volunteer at our church. I am continually amazed at the resourcefulness of the people God has sent us, and their ability to face down any problem that comes our way.
Two weeks ago we were faced with a barrage of inspections that needed to happen. Several of our men stepped up and took care of every bit of it, with little attention or oversight needed from me. That’s good, because I wouldn’t have had a clue what to do.
Just today when we were cleaning and setting up the building for Sunday services, we were having trouble with an air conditioning unit. But another one of our men who just happened to be there helping used his expertise and within an hour had the solution to the problem. Once again, I would have had no clue what to even try.
What God is teaching me through all this is rather simple: that if He tells you to do something, don’t worry about whether you have everything you need in place to get the job done. If it is God’s will, then He is responsible for sending you people with the gifts and talents you lack. And the great thing about God’s way is that no one man – and especially no one pastor – gets the credit.
It is by all of us pooling our collective gifts and knowledge and getting their together – depending on each other and God the whole way. What a surprise it is every time God brings forward another person with exactly the gifts we need! And what a relief to know I truly don’t have to be able to do it all!
You see….this is “church”. This is how God meant it- a network of people, all needing one another, and all ultimately looking to God to make it happen. So now every time I get worried about how to respond to the next problem or need, I hear God saying very clearly to me, “Your answer is standing right beside you!”
