MINISTRYPHOBIA (Part Two)
FEMI A. Falade
Imagine someone comes to you to prophesy that he sees you in the next five years as a minister of God who is raising the dead in a 10,000 attendant crusade outside your country. The next thing that would come to your mind is "me?, how can this be possible? I can't oh? I cannot even pray for 30 minutes now nor can I fast for a whole day. I cannot even heal a person with a headache now nor am I a serious person with God".
I have once told a sister who thought she is the least God can thought of, to become a pastor's wife considering who she is now. I told her not to use the strength of now to compare the assignment of some years to come. Doing that is not wise. How can you view yourself in ten years' times with your current strength? Is this where you were or who you were five years ago? Obviously, if God have something bigger for you in five years' time, he will provide equivalent strength in that fifth year.
On that note, I want you to know that the ruggedness and doggedness of ministry should not be a cause of Ministryphobia. While concluding the part one I gave a little about the ruggedness and doggedness of ministry in these lines:
THE RUGGEDNESS OF MINISTRY
"One of the things that cause Ministryphobia is the ruggedness and doggedness in ministry. Some people have once said to me, ministry is not for people like us. Their views are, they cannot go through those hard times in ministry. Times of fasting, of prayer, of leaving their business to attend to others, and so on are not bread and butter. How can I go for days without eating? I will die. Many expression of the high standard of the ministers of God also scares them away. They say, as a minister, you cannot go to anywhere; you cannot do this or that. Funny enough, many of them are on the part to what they consider a no go area for themselves."
The truth remains that, true ministerial endeavours require some level of dedication, ruggedness, sacrifices, labours, self-denials, and so on. While sharing a scripture with some brethren sometimes ago, I can read fear on their faces because of the demands of ministry or of a minister as they were, from Paul the apostle's letter to the Corinthians and His personal experience.
This is the scripture: Giving no offence in anything, that the ministry be not blamed: But in all things approving ourselves as the ministers of God, in much patience, in afflictions, in necessities, in distresses, In stripes, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labours, in watchings, in fastings; By pureness, by knowledge, by longsuffering, by kindness, by the Holy Ghost, by love unfeigned, By the word of truth, by the power of God, by the armour of righteousness on the right hand and on the left, By honour and dishonour, by evil report and good report: as deceivers, and yet true; As unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and, behold, we live; as chastened, and not killed; As sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing all things. 2Cor. 6:3-10
These key words are topics on their own. Much patience? Fastings? Sleeplessness? And so on are matters of necessity in ministry and if you want to go far you will need to keep yourself afresh in all these. To be sincere, these are what true ministers of God go through. I remember someone asked me one day if I have problem because I always fast and would not stop fasting. "It is not that we have problem, it is the demand of the ministry" I told her.
The goodnews is this, God works in us to do these things so we are not left on our abilities. The ability of man will fail him in the ministry God called him into. But if the ability of God who called him into the ministry is depended upon, all these ruggedness would be done by God that called him in accordance with the scripture, 1Thes. 5:24.
Let me further explain the two types of strengths that help in this doggedness. They are the strength of God and the strength from God. According to Philippians chapter 4:13, I can only do all things through Christ that strengthens me but imagine God working in me to will and do of his good pleasure, Phil. 2:13. Also imagine God who called you to do something also doing it for you. That is the strength of God. God is doing it Himself in you. You are only a vessel and your strength does not count here. When Christ strengthens you to do, there is a place of you doing in that scene. That is the strength from God. Both strengths are important in ministry. If you give all for God, you will see that ministry is not rugged because you are weak, it is rugged because you carry a rugged God and a nature from Him.
So, when Ministryphobia which come as a result of the doggedness of ministry comes, tell it that God who called you into this has the stamina to do it and he is bringing you into the capacity to do it because he works in you to do it.
Next is UNCLEAR VISIONS/LACK OF ASSURANCE we shall discuss it in the part three.
Grace!
..To be continued
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