MAXIMISING YOUR MINISTRY
Part Two : Stumbling Blocks or Stepping Stones
Many of us resist stepping out in ministry or involvement because of perceived stumbling blocks in our lives. We feel there are issues that stand in the way of God using us.
Of course there are those who do not want God to use them or rather do not want to use the gifts God has given them to achieve something for his kingdom. It is difficult to help people who don’t want help, to inspire those who are uninspirable, to enthuse those who are indifferent. In these situations we ask the Holy Spirit to do the work needed to convince.
But many of you long to find the fulfillment that flows from knowing you are a valuable part of what God is doing in and through his church in these last days.
Moses is a very good example of a man who ‘presented’ to God reasons (stumbling blocks) as to why God could not possible use him. BUT ….. God did !
Look with me at the call of Moses ….. Exodus 3:1-10
Note the remarkable ‘revelation’ of God he had. The like of which you nor I have ever seen. And yet he still failed to believe it possible that God could use him. After all look at the kind of man he was ….. ‘An upper class, educated murderer, with a speech impediment who was wasting his life away looking after sheep in a desert’ - How could God be interested in a man like that ?
The funny thing is that our ‘life experiences’ are often the very qualifications God deems ideal for the specific task/s he asks of us. After all God’s job descriptions are laughable to worldly minds …… 1 Corinthians 1:18-31
What is Paul actually saying ?
Worldly wisdom is foolishness in comparison to God’s - v25
Most of us are ‘unwise’ by worldly standards - v26
God chooses to use those who have been rejected - v27,28 i.e. the foolish , the weak, the lowly, the despised.
Wow ! God takes the bits the world rejects and throws away to make something the world is incapable of making. He uses the off cuts of cloth to make a magnificent garment, He takes the people who don’t amount to much in worldly eyes and makes them his partners. Jesus took a bunch of fishermen, tax collectors, religious zealots and made them the leaders of the greatest movement on the face of the earth …… the church.
Paul tells us that God does this for two reasons …….
To remove the pride of self-praise - v29
To glorify the power of God’s Son - v30,31
Notice that Paul considers himself an excellent example of this very understanding. In
1 Corinthians 2:1-5 Paul says “If you think you’re not good enough, wise enough, strong enough or mighty enough … join the queue and bye the way I’m at the front”
Let’s return to Moses …. Called by God to a massive mission …. BUT he was busy presenting to God reasons why God had got it wrong, why God needed to find someone else, why God should advertise the post again.
1st STUMBLING BLOCK ….. Low self esteem
Exodus 3:11 - the perpetual thought of the person with a low self esteem … “who am I ?”
Moses seemed to have good reason for his low self esteem. After all he was the victim of a mixed identity …. He had been born a Hebrew, he had been educated an Egyptian, he had been raised a prince and he ended up a nomadic shepherd.
He is unconvinced by God’s revelation as the “God of your father” …. He was not impressed by the fact that God considered him suitable when he said “I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt”
Only someone with a low self esteem would not be impressed or convinced. The proud man would marvel that God had finally realized what a great guy he was.
Moses is not alone in presenting God with this stumbling block …. Gideon - Judges 6:11-17
“…how can I save Israel ? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family” (Yet Gideon rose to be a mighty warrior leader plundering the Midianites with an army of 300 men)
What does low self esteem do to hinder us being used by God ?
It causes us to doubt that we have the necessary ability or gifts, it causes us to fear what others will think if we push ourselves forward and get involved in some area of work or ministry in the body. It reminds us of what people have said in the past about us, our inability’s and failures.
So how do we overcome this stumbling block ?
Remind yourself how God sees you. You are unique and an important creation - Psalm 139:13,14 For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.
Realize that new birth brings new opportunities. God has given you a NEW life with new possibilities to be used by Him in new ways. John 1:12,13 Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God-- children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.
2nd STUMBLING BLOCK ….. Fear of failure
Exodus 4:1 - Those who fear the possibility of failure us these words almost religiously … “What if ?” …. Moses again had good reason to feel this way. After all he had been the ‘Hebrew Prince’ - the Israelite who had been saved from death and given priviledge. He had experienced the best of Egypt while the Jews had suffered in relative poverty. He had murdered an Egyptian soldier and fled when he realized he had been recognized. Why should he be listened to or believed ?.
The reasons are simple ….
Because things had changed - After 40 years a shepherd in the deserts God had appeared to him and given him a new purpose. Those who fear failure usually do so because they continue to live in the memory of the past and do not recognize any changes that mean it is not necessarily the case that they will fail again.
Because God said they would - Exodus 3:18 - He hadn’t clearly heard what God said. This is so often true of those who fear failure. Whatever God says about the future hey do not hear because the taunts of the past drown out the sounds of encouragement and hope.
Moses was probably afraid of being considered either a FOOL or a FRAUD.
After all if he turned up in Egypt and told them he had heard God speak out of a burning bush who would not laugh at him. It’s still possible today that the cynics and critics in the church doubt those who believe so strongly that they have heard God direct them into acts of service for him.
He truth is that the fear of failure stops us achieving because it stops us trying. There isn’t anyone who has lived life without failing at some time. Even Gideon looked for ‘confirmation’ that he wasn’t going to make a fool of himself ….. Judges 6:17 "If now I have found favor in your eyes, give me a sign that it is really you talking to me. Please do not go away until I come back and bring my offering and set it before you." And the LORD said, "I will wait until you return."
I love that phrase “And the Lord said, ‘I will wait until you return’ God is never in a hurry to convince us.
How do we overcome the fear of failure ?
Get rid of the “what ifs ?” - Accept that you have made mistakes in the past but that is not necessarily a prophecy of the future.
Try again - God is the master of the second opportunity. Look at Peter who said he would never deny Christ but did. Did Jesus discard him ? - NO - he anointed him as the key leader of the early church.
3rd STUMBLING BLOCK ….. Focussing on our weaknesses
Exodus 4:10-13 - Moses still does not give up trying to dissuade God. He even tells God things that he is clearly aware of. He can’t go to Egypt and tell Pharaoh anything because he can’t speak eloquently, clearly or rapidly.
I wonder if it had crossed Moses’ mind that God knew that before he set the bush on fire. Yet we can understand and excuse Moses on this count surely, after all his speech problem probably robbed him of confidence anyway and his weaknesses were more magnified than his strengths.
But Gideon too focussed on his weakness and acted accordingly ….. Judges 6:27 So Gideon took ten of his servants and did as the LORD told him. But because he was afraid of his family and the men of the town, he did it at night rather than in the daytime.
So often the people of God sit and do nothing whilst they spend time looking at the weaknesses in their character or personality. On that basis no-one will ever have been used by God for anything. The reality is that our weaknesses are vital to our ministry.
2 Corinthians 12:9,10 Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
This is the paradox of serving God. That when we are aware that as humans we are weak, empty and useless we can actually begin to tap into the depth of God’s recourses of power. 2 Corinthians 13:4 For to be sure, he was crucified in weakness, yet he lives by God’s power. Likewise, we are weak in him, yet by God’s power we will live with him to serve you.
The truth is that the best equipment for ministry that you can have is weakness not strength. For those who know their weakness are those who are more likely to turn to Christ for the strength to accomplish the task.
In this way our ‘excuses’ become God’s ‘reason’ for choosing us.
Conclusion:
You may have other stumbling blocks, things you have put in the way of God using your gifts. Your family, your hobbies, your unwillingness to be stretched in your walk with God.
Remember it is the desire of God to empower you to be an effective minister to him, the church and the world whatever task you fulfill, from the most practical acts of service to the most passionate communication of the gospel.
Your stumbling blocks are God’s stepping stones !
