What happened next changed my life forever.
I turned around after locking the door to find Bob Wescott standing on the porch; he had been waiting for me. Bob was the oldest man in our congregation, a dear man, but in a deepening struggle with depression. He wasn’t a counselor or a teacher, just an about-to-retire railroad man.
When I saw him, I immediately wished he wasn’t there. I just wanted to go quietly home. I didn’t want to talk to anyone or have another painfully awkward and discouraging conversation. He looked at me face-to-face, and I almost said, “Bob, I don’t know why you waited for me, but I just can’t talk right now.” But I kept mouth shut.
With a tender voice, Bob said, “Can I say something to you? It will only take a minute.”
I said, “Sure.”
Then he said, “I know you’re discouraged, but I want you to hear what I’m about to say: We know that you’re young and a bit immature.” (I thought, “Well that’s a great start!”)
He continued. “Paul, we haven’t asked you to leave.” Then he dropped this bomb of a question on me: “Where is the church going to get mature pastors if immature pastors leave?”
The question immediately exploded my resolve to leave. As I have recounted this conversation to others throughout the years, I have said that in that moment, I felt like God had nailed my shoes to the porch of that church. I knew immediately that I couldn’t quit.
THE TRANSFORMING POWER OF WORDS
By God’s grace, I understood what was happening in that moment. It wasn’t just the words of Bob Wescott that I had to deal with; no, I was convinced that God has raised up this discouraged older man to speak rescuing wisdom to a proud young pastor who was about to run away. I wasn’t about to run just from Scranton—I was about to embark on Jonah’s journey and run from God. But an unlikely man spoke the words of God to unwilling ears and everything changed.
I’m so glad that Bob Wescott was willing. I’m so thankful that he waited on that porch, so grateful that he spoke in a way that I could hear, and so amazed at the glory of the grace of the One who raised up Bob to rescue me from me.
One man, in one moment, was willing to speak the truth in love, and the story of the hearer changed forever.
Without that conversation, I would have quit pastoral ministry. I would have never gone to Westminster Theology Seminary for further training. I would have never worked for CCEF and learned to apply the gospel to everyday life. I would have never written even one book about God’s transforming grace in the mundane situations, relationships and locations of a broken world. I would have never experienced the privileged life of outrageous ministry blessings that has become my story.
God makes his invisible mercy visible by sending people of mercy to give mercy to people who need mercy. So pay attention to the struggles of others. Be willing to lovingly confront a fellow believer who’s ready to run. Speak words of encouragement to someone who’s ready to quit. Incarnate the presence of the Lord…and watch what God will do!
It’s impossible to capture in words the extent of the tender care of God’s grace, and it’s equally impossible to predict who God may use to extend that grace to us. So speak to your brothers and sisters with care—God may be using you to change a story forever.
Who is a God like our God?
This article originally appeared here.
