Just another coincidence
April 8, 2009 | Knowing Christ,Ministry Life
I went to lunch with new friends last week. They are in their twenties, just starting out life and newly married. It was fun. Pablo is one of those cool kind of guys who you just can’t help but like. He’s honest, blunt at times, and funny. His wife, Haven, was awesome. I loved talking with her.
As I normally do, I wanted to hear their story. “Tell me all about you,” I said.
Pablo started first. He described how he found Christ in a little church in Tulsa when he was a freshman in high school.
Haven’s grandfather was the pastor at that time of that church. She described her experiences there and how God shaped her life.
I was raised in Tulsa, so I asked them where the church was.
When they told me, I was brought back 30 years to my first experience with God.
In that very same church.
It has a different name now. It was Trinity then. It’s a tiny church in a bad part of Tulsa. I can only imagine the number of pastors who have struggled to keep the church alive. Last time I saw it, there were few changes. A nondescript building on a residential street surrounded by older homes and a few Quik Trips with bars on the windows.
And yet three people had found Jesus there. Three people who were in different phases of ministry. Three people of how many who went on to disciple others, just as they were discipled.
Maybe you are a pastor’s wife, a Sunday school teacher, a youth volunteer, or someone who’s trying to make a difference. Maybe on the outside it doesn’t seem like you are doing much compared to a mega church or the speaker whose books are flying off the shelves. But it’s likely that somewhere there are people who you touched who were never the same after they encountered God in your “small” ministry.
And that ministry goes on. Multiplying. Spreading. Growing and maturing.
I don’t think we’ll really every know what God can do with the “little things” until we reach Heaven one day. I bet we’ll be in for a surprise. I got a little taste of that last week as I experienced “just another coincidence”.
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This is absolutely beautiful and just what I needed to hear today. Hubby and I are volunteer youth leaders with our little church in our town. We love it but do become discouraged at times wondering if we are making a difference at all.
Thanks so much for the reminder that we may not see it in our time….but His.
April 8th, 2009 at 1:54 pm