Faithful Over a Few Things

How do we fit into God’s master plan? It is often a mystery. We do the good works He has ordained for us (Ephesians 2:10), but we scratch our heads after the fact, wondering why He wanted us to do them. I have scratched my head more than most. Not much hair left on top of that old head!

My ministry felt like I was plunging my fist into a bucket of water and then withdrawing it. The water (representing the congregation) repeatedly returned to its placid state as if nothing had happened.

To use another analogy, most of my life in ministry, I felt like I was mixing batch after batch of mortar without seeing any building constructed. Frankly and frustratingly, it didn’t seem like my efforts were obviously enhancing people’s spiritual maturity. My Sunday messages had all the impact of a gnat hitting an I-beam, or so it seemed.

Maybe you feel like your ministry hasn’t made much of a difference either. That doesn’t prove it hasn’t.  I still don’t have specific insight into exactly how I benefited the congregations I pastored or the Conference that I served as the Associate for Discipleship. Between the two, we are talking about almost 40 years of “is anyone paying attention?” ministry. God's silence amid it all tears at the foundation of your faithfulness.

God doesn’t always give us a glimpse of the impact of our work for Him. If He doesn’t, we must faithfully carry out what He wants us to do, trusting that He has His reasons to have us do it. If we are faithful over a few things, faithfully handling our responsibilities, even though we never see the fruit of our labor, He will give us many more responsibilities (Matthew 25:23).

Seven years into retirement, I can confidently say that, if nothing else, my 40 years of active ministry prepared me for ministry after I retired. It wasn’t immediately apparent at first. It took almost three years of working in retirement to see evidence of significant spiritual fruit.

The first thirty months of retirement, I didn’t use my freedom to travel here, there, and everywhere.  I spent hours sitting in the same chair, near the same window, behind the same small desk, tapping a keyboard to write two blogs about Christianity each week. I didn’t know when, how, or if God would use them.  

I continued tapping because of a persistent inner pressure from God to write a book. Much of the content I had previously written during my active ministry found its way into my blogs.

I continued producing two each week, not knowing how people would receive them. Would these retirement blogs have more impact than the sermons and discipleship resources from which they were drawn?

By His grace, God has sovereignly chosen to prepare and use me to see far more ministry fruit in retirement than in my 40 years of ministry combined.  I am no longer just mixing batch after batch of mortar without seeing the building God is constructing.

In 2021, I organized the 260 blogs I had written into a book, “His Power for Your Weakness: 260 Steps Toward Spiritual Strength” (https://www.christiangrowthresources/his-power-for-your-weakness).  

God has used that free eBook in Malawi, Mozambique, and Zambia as the class material to disciple 16,725 people and lead 7,010 of them to faith in Christ. Don’t ever quit. Your most fruitful days of ministry may be yet ahead! Who knows? Maybe even in retirement. See additional free spiritual growth resources for Christians. #freediscipleshipresources #freeevangelismresources #freechristianleadershipresources 

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