Happy Tuesday! If you read yesterday’s post you know that I was recently quarantined after catching Covid-19 and I shared some lessons that I learned from it. If you didn’t read yesterday’s post then go read it. I’ll wait… 😇
Ok, now that you are all caught up, here are a few more lessons that I learned last week…
LESSON #5 – God Is The Good Shepherd & A Good, Good Father
One of the things I love about God is that He cares about us. And He doesn’t just care about the big stuff but He cares about the little stuff too. He really is the Good Shepherd from Psalm 23:1 that supplies all of our needs and the Good Father from Matthew 7:11 who knows how to give good gifts to his children. Not only did God bless me by not allowing me to suffer some of the debilitating symptoms and side effects that some have had to go through and ultimately, I believe, healing me but He also blessed me along the way. And the best part was that he used others to do it! That brings me to…
LESSON #6 – God’s Kids Are Pretty Great Too
I mentioned in yesterday’s blog post that it was tough not having anyone to talk to or touch but that didn’t mean that others didn’t talk to me via texting and social media and that I didn’t get touched by their encouraging words and generous acts. Some examples were…
- A friend showing up w/ coffee and meds
- Another friend showing up with tea and cough drops
- Yet another friend showing up with coffee
- My wife bringing me coffee in bed each morning
- Are you starting to sense a theme here? Lol
- Friends offering to bring me take-out or groceries
- Hundreds of Birthday wishes online
- $4,815 raised for my Birthday Fundraiser
- A friend and fellow pastor offering not only to preach at the two churches I was scheduled to speak at this past Sunday but also to donate the honorariums from each to Go Scatter Ministries.
- Friends sharing that they have their churches and friends praying for me.
- Encouraging messages coming from other countries
- Birthday breakfast in bed ☕️🥓🍳🥞
- I could go on but you get the picture. 😁
LESSON #7 – I Am Not An Essential Worker
Sometimes it takes getting sidelined for a bit to realize that, whether out of a sense of self worth or in trying to live up to others’ expectations, we have taken on too much. The reality is that, like many found out at the beginning of the pandemic, we are not as essential as we assumed we were. Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely believe that it is God’s desire to partner with us in order to achieve His Will but sometimes we overstep and forget that God is God and we are not. When this happens we need to be reminded that the world will turn and that ministry will still happen without us. For me this is not a new lesson but actually one that God reminds me of often and one that I now receive with joy.
I have come to learn that there is no greater privilege than to be used by God for His Purpose but also that there is no greater relief than realizing that He can and does use a lot more people than just me. Last week I had friends cover for me with preaching, with Hospice, with Hands 4 Hope, etc. and I didn’t lose one wink of sleep over it because I knew that the same God who would have worked through me in those settings would work just as mightily through them. That isn’t an excuse to stay sidelined and leave ministry to others but rather an opportunity to reevaluate what you are doing and to ask God to reveal any areas that you took on without His prompting. To have Him refine your purpose will ultimately be a blessing to you and to others as you will accomplish more together.
Well, I could go on but seven ramblings is probably enough for now. Thank you for reading and please share any lessons that you have learned while going through a crisis, big or small, so that I can learn from you as well.
Refill with Randy 