Eight. The more righteous we are, the less we will be aware of it. “Moses knew not that his face did shine” (Exodus 34:29).
I said to the 75-year-old saint in our church, “Marguerite, you are the most Christ-like person I know.” She didn’t flinch. “Oh honey,” she said to her young minister, “if you only knew.” I did know, in a way, but have learned a hundred times since: those closest to the Lord are the last to know it. The nearer to the light we get, the more imperfections and blemishes we will see.
In leading God’s church, beware of ever thinking you have arrived. “Let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall” (1 Corinthians 10:12).
Nine. The Lord’s servants who serve well are going to run into the buzz saw of opposition from the nay-sayers, do-nothings, status-quo lovers, and carnal. That’s no fun, but it’s not all bad.
Reading the mandate of the disciples in Matthew 10:16ff, we cannot say we were not warned. But it has ever been this way. We are swimming upstream in a downstream world.
Jesus prepared us for this by saying that whoever receives us is receiving Him, whoever listens to us is listening to Him, and whoever rejects us is rejecting Him. (See Matthew 10:40 and Luke 10:16.). If being treated like Jesus is not enough for us, we’re in the wrong calling.
Ten. Not only does the Lord allow His choice servants to suffer sometimes, He even plans for that to happen.
Caesar ain’t coming to your revival, preacher. So, the Lord is going to be needing someone to get arrested for preaching. Then, when the high and mighty ruler has to decide on this case, he will order the saint in chains to “tell us what you’ve been preaching.” That’s how it worked with Paul (see 2 Timothy 4:16-17), and how it has been with His choice servants ever since.
When Paul and Silas were falsely charged, then beaten and jailed, even though their backs were open wounds left untreated and they were hungry, tired, and hurting, “about midnight, they began praying and singing hymns of praise to God. And the other prisoners were listening to them.” (Acts 16:25) They’re always listening and watching when God’s people suffer unjustly. That’s a fact which God uses to reach many for Himself.
No one wants to suffer. No one volunteers to hurt. But sometimes it’s the only way.
What God’s faithful must never do is groan and bellyache and say, “Why me, Lord?” Your suffering may turn out to be the highest compliment the Father ever gave you. Early believers rejoiced they were counted worthy to suffer. (See Acts 5:41).
This article on leading God’s church originally appeared here, and is used by permission.
