Read below or listen in podcast form here:
Have you ever been serving in ministry and found yourself thinking, “I really hope he doesn’t show up,” or, “I’m so glad SHE didn’t come”? I wish I could say I never have, but friends, that would be a lie.
The truth is, people can be hard to love. They are weird, or abrasive, or extreme, or just different. This can make serving them a challenge. Sometimes, there are unexpected people who walk through the doors of our church that catch me off-guard as I think, “Couldn’t it be anyone but them?”
But a while back, I was reading in the gospels and I was struck by Jesus’ ministry on earth. I know that in His teaching ministry, He came for everyone, to seek and save the lost. But He also had a ministry of compassion where He healed so many people! In Matthew 12:15 it says, “And many followed him, and he healed them all.”
Not some. Not certain ones, lovable ones, similar ones. ALL.
I began thinking about what that meant, and about what else we know from Jesus’ ministry. He consistently went to the unloved, the dirty, the forgotten. He reached down and met people where they were at. He was a servant of ALL.
How often do we want the people we serve to meet certain criteria? To look like us, act like us, or think like us? We know that everyone is a sinner and needs a Savior, but we’d really prefer it if the people God sends us are not really BIG sinners, just little ones. People who don’t push us out of our comfort zones.
This past year, I found myself having one of those moments where I was hoping a certain individual wouldn’t show up for the ministry where I was serving. I was relieved when they didn’t – and then, God began working on my heart.
Why? Why would I be relieved, glad even, when this person didn’t show up to receive Gospel ministry aimed at saving their soul?
I began turning it over to God, asking Him to help me want to serve ALL, even if it was uncomfortable for me.
Not long after, that person did show up. And God showed me that I had been trying to serve in my own strength, my own weakness. When I try to serve in my own power, then I find it hard to serve ALL. But when I give it over to God, and let Him be in charge, He gives me the strength to serve all. I realized that He is doing something great and I want to be along for the ride.
God’s plan is bigger and better than I can possibly imagine, and includes people I wouldn’t think to include. Praise God that it is not up to me, and that His grace is for ALL!
Taking It Further:
Have you ever found yourself wishing you didn’t have to serve particular people? Ask God to give you His love and passion for serving the unexpected!
Convicting and encouraging. Thanks for writing honestly, Tobi! So grateful to have a Savior who is constantly refining our rough edges and giving us His heart for people, especially those we struggle to love.