On a recent Sunday morning, while in church, I placed my Bible in the chair beside me and opened a very small notebook. I often write down words or phrases that I want to remember. One of the ministers went before the church and led prayer on behalf of a very sick person. After the prayer, he quietly said, “The Lord will provide.” That morning, I needed to hear these words and I wrote them in my notebook. “The Lord will provide.” The reminder was helpful to me on that particular day.
May the Lord provide you with encouragement in the words below.
The List of Five
You Offer More Than You Might Think
I knew a person who invested much time and energy at a particular company. She worked long hours and did thankless tasks that required much work. Yet, it seemed that she was regularly passed over for promotions for which she was qualified.
Finally, she left this company. In retrospect, she valued her time at the company and the relationships that were formed. She left, however, with a sense of disappointment.
Can you relate to this?
Maybe you put much energy into a friendship or relationship that seemed to end in disappointment.
Perhaps you put time and dedication into special training, only to see any future job possibilities fizzle out.
You may have worked very hard, hoping that your efforts would be noticed and at least appreciated. Instead, not a word was ever said.
If you look around, you may see men and women who have extraordinary gifts. Maybe these are gifts you don’t have. Yet, you really have much to offer:
Consider your life-long learning. Don’t underestimate how much you have learned at this point. Whether through formal or informal education, this is significant. Your eagerness to learn is actually a very important quality that you bring to any situation.
Consider some of the intangibles in your life. Your honesty, graciousness, and willingness to think before you speak are all wonderful characteristics. Your loyalty to your spouse and your friends says so much about your character.
Consider your relational qualities. Your willingness to listen and your capacity for relating to a wide variety of people is significant. Your love for others and your thoughtfulness makes most any group better. This love and thoughtfulness can be a way to savor relationships, instead of taking these for granted.
These are assets for navigating life. Some people may or may not recognize the value you bring. However, God can use qualities that may never be listed on a resume but may be significant in making a kingdom difference.
Know this:
Your self-worth is given to you by God. It is not determined by the “likes” you receive on social media. No one else determines what you are really worth.
Your contribution to a cause, a ministry, or task has not gone unnoticed by God. He recognizes your contribution even when others are silent.
Your service is not the way to honor. Your service is honorable (Mk. 10:43-45).
Don’t Settle For a Facade When You Could Have a Real Life
I drove past a particular restaurant regularly. For a time, it looked very normal, until one day, I realized that the red brick exterior was only on the front of the building. As I looked at the side of the building and then the back, I realized this was just a metal building with a brick facade in the front.
It only appeared to be a brick building. The owner of the building went to much trouble and expense to create an illusion.
Some people grow up in families where the emphasis seems to be focused on appearance or creating an illusion. Yet, the illusion we attempt to create and the reality that exists, aren’t necessarily the same.
Some may purchase a particular house or car to create an illusion of success.
Some may spend money extravagantly hoping others will think they are financially successful.
Some may try to create a veneer of faith while their children are young. Years later, the empty faith of mom and dad may become obvious to these children.
At some point, we may become aware of the facade in others or even in ourselves. When we discover the illusion in others, we feel disappointed or betrayed. When we discover this in ourselves, we may experience hopelessness or a sense of futility. As a result, we might become cynical and even bitter, wondering what really matters.
A few years ago, Federal authorities searched the home of a young couple. The home was located in an exclusive area in Dallas. The young husband worked for a national financial service company. He was now being indicted for fraud. When authorities entered the home, they knew something was wrong.
The house was basically empty. There was hardly anything inside the house. In one room was a mattress and a cardboard table where they ate their meals and watched television. The rest of the house was empty. Neighbors noticed that they never opened their window blinds or curtains.
Before moving to the area, the couple had sold everything they had to buy this house. Once they purchased the house, they could not afford furniture. Yet, they believed it was important for them to live at this location since it provided the appearance of success.
Instead of being focused on pretense and appearance, perhaps we might cling to the following:
The reality of who you really are is more beautiful and precious than any facade you might construct. You were created in the image of the living God! There is a beauty and worth in this reality alone.
True wisdom is not found in attempting to sound clever, smart, or insightful. Rather, true wisdom is displayed in a life well lived.
Life was meant to be lived out of the center. I can tell when I am paying attention to the center of my life and when I am basically ignoring this.
Any attempt to create a facade will ultimately fail. The goal of life is not in creating a certain impression in the minds of others. Rather, the goal is in becoming the kind of person you have been called by God to be.
The Most Important Friend a Person Could Ever Have
Right where we are this moment, in the midst of whatever loneliness we may be facing, God meets us and holds out a hand of friendship. At the heart of the Christian faith lies an extravagant, grace-filled, and mind-blowing offer. God passionately longs to be friends with us.
― Trevor Hudson, Beyond Loneliness: The Gift of God's Friendship
We sat in a small office. He had just come out of a 28 day alcohol/drug rehab program. He had grown up in a Christian family and for a time attended a Christian school. Yet, his life had taken a detour. He had lost his job and his marriage was hanging by a thread.
He sat at a table in my office and began to read the Bible aloud. He was anxious and clearly was not finding comfort or encouragement in what he was reading. Finally, almost in exasperation, he said, “I just want to know what God wants me to do!”
I told him that the place to start was not in what God wanted him to do but in responding to what God had already done for him.
Trevor Hudson, a South African minister, is correct when he says, “God passionately longs to be friends with us.”
Jesus longs to abide or dwell in us. Yet he is also interested in the ordinary details of our lives. He is a friend, involved in the everyday details of living. As someone who loves us and abides in us is, he in our corner desiring our best.
Recently, I was in a store in the check-out line. As I approached the cashier, I looked at her and asked, “Well how is your day?” She almost appeared startled. She replied, “Why — I’m having a good day. Thanks very much for asking.” I then thought of all the times when I said nothing, mindlessly staring at my credit card, before slipping it into the machine. Now, a few seconds of acknowledging this total stranger had made a difference in her day.
We might just be amazed at God, who is aware and interested in the details of this life we are navigating. He holds out his hand of friendship.
10 Ways To Be More Effective From Your Front-Row Seat (Especially for Ministers & Church Leaders)
Ministers and other church leaders have a front row seat to the life of the congregation. Yet, what goes on within a congregation can be very challenging. The following might be helpful:
Ministry is not for the fainthearted or thin-skinned. Sometimes hurt people, will then hurt other people, including their ministers. Ministers are often wounded by the very people whom they love. Believe me, I know this is hard but God is faithful and will stand by us. May God give us the grace to withstand the pain and hurt of ministry.
Ministry may offer more joy than you might have dreamed and more pain that you ever imagined. Sometimes both joy and pain will occur on the same day. The joys can be many: a baptism, the birth of a child, watching the maturing of a young woman, or seeing a person practice forgiveness. Meanwhile, the pain can be intense. For example, a family who you have loved and served may leave your congregation. You hear them say they like another’s preaching better.
Ministry also gives you a front row seat to a lot of disruption, heartache, and sin. Yes, you will experience a lot of disappointment. Some of this may occur when those whom you counted on turn to sin instead of Jesus. Yet, look at Jesus, who can absorb our hurt and give us abundant life.
Ministry gives you a front row seat to so many people who are doing good. Throughout the nation, in congregations of all sizes, people can be found who are doing so much good, serving others, and giving their time unselfishly. This can range from volunteers in elementary schools who read to children, to dentists who give their time to provide dental care at little or no cost to a clinic in a low income area.
For the sake of your soul, your family, and the congregation, spend the necessary time, energy, and attention with the spiritual disciplines. Care for your own soul. If you are not caring for your own soul, how will you thrive? I love this line by Sinclair Ferguson regarding ministers: “At the end of the day it’s not where you are that matters, but who you’ve become, wherever you are.”
Care for your emotions. This can range from being aware of your own emotional tendencies to buttressing your emotional capacity through therapy. I have been to therapists at different times in my life. For the most part, these people have been very helpful.
Acknowledge the joy but also acknowledge the pain of ministry. To glibly say, “It’s all good!” in the face of what many ministers deal with, is not only unrealistic but may be very unhealthy.
It is important that you put yourself in a place where there is encouragement, hope, and joy. Stay connected to a few people who seem to choose joy instead of complaining and faultfinding. Most of us are impacted by those with whom we spend time.
Write it down. I love being in groups and gatherings where some of the most experienced, seasoned ministers are writing things down! So often they do this as others preach, teach, or make comments. There is so much that we can learn from one another.
Resources
The gospel call invites us to apprentice ourselves to Jesus, become pilgrims along the compassionate way, and journey deeper together into the heart and life of God. In our contemporary setting, however, Christians often look more like bustling tourists than faithful pilgrims patiently engaged upon an eternal pilgrimage into Divine Love. Countless people today make periodic excursions into the spiritual supermarket in pursuit of a novel offer, but few seem willing to sign up as pilgrims in the lifelong adventure of discipleship.
― Trevor Hudson, A Mile in My Shoes: Cultivating CompassionSee Jari Roomer’s, “5 Habits To Learn 3X As Much From Every Book You Read” in Medium, January 31, 2022.
See David Brooks, “The Secrets to Lasting Friendships” in The New York Times, March 24, 2022.
If you like the quote from Trevor Hudson (above), you might enjoy his wonderful book, Discovering Our Spiritual Identity: Practices for God’s Beloved. One of his best.
Each Thursday/Friday, I post about ten tweets especially for ministers and other believers as they anticipate Sunday. You can find me @jimmartin.
I serve as Vice President of Harding School of Theology, Memphis, Tennessee. Every other Monday morning, I publish this “Encouragement Note.” You can subscribe at jimmartin.substack.com. You can also find me on Facebook - @jim.martin or Instagram - @jimmartin.jm. My e-mail address is: jmartin9669@gmail.com. Feel free to write. I would love to hear what is encouraging or helpful. — Jim Martin
Jim Martin's Encouragement Note #54