Burn Bright

I had the privilege of speaking at a Vision Ministries Ministry Wives Brunch in Maine last May. I thought I would share just a little bit of the encouragement I gave them with you, my ministry girlfriends.  Here are some snippets of what I shared with them.

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It is my firm belief that each of us here were created for a purpose.  God has a purpose for you in who you are, where you are, and why you are there.  I don’t believe he randomly placed you, I believe he purposely placed you.  And in believing that he purposely placed you, I also believe that he divinely gifted you, and in divinely gifting you, he has uniquely called you.  Called you for his purpose, called you to be who you were born to be, called you to burn bright for him in that place.  You might not have chosen to be a ministry wife, yet you are.  Because you answered the call on your life, that call that God has for you to be all that he created you to be.

You were made to shine

you were made for life

even if you’ve lost your way

turn and you will hear Love say

you were made for more, so much more

child of everlasting light

made to blaze away the night

so baby, burn bright

burn bright

(Natalie Grant, Burn Bright)

I know that we have all come from many different backgrounds, from many different churches, from many different families and lives, but if you are here today, then at least the one thing we have in common is our role, or job, as a pastor’s wife.  We have all, by choice or by circumstance, married a pastor, a man who has committed to serving God for his life and work.  You may have entered this role willingly or you may have come reluctantly, perhaps even stomping your feet, waving your fists at God saying, “This wasn’t what I signed up for when I said, ‘I do!’ If I had only known!”.  However you got here, I want to say to you, “Welcome, and well done.”  Although I will not pretend that this role is an easy one to be in, I do believe that it is a wonderful role, a fantastic role even, and one that if we let it, can reap bountiful blessings upon us and our families.  Being a pastor’s wife can be such a privilege, and I don’t mean that in a “we get to know what goes on at the elder’s meeting” kind of way. But I mean that God has allowed us to be in the sacrificial place, that place that stretches us, that teaches us, that place that makes us more like him.  He has given you and me a front row seat to seeing some of his greatest miracles in the lives of ordinary people, he has us walking through the deepest of grief with the loneliest of people, and he allows us to rejoice on the mountaintops with some of the happiest of people.  He has put us in a place of trust, of leadership, and of obedience.

Think about where Esther is at at this moment…how willing would she have been to be a part of this deal to enter the king’s harem?  She had lost her parents, her cousin was raising her and obviously loved her by the accounts of his devotion to her, the only reason the king was looking for a new queen was because he got mad at the old one when she wouldn’t show off her beauty before him and his drunk friends! The thought of entering the King’s harem must have been overwhelming in itself...I can’t imagine that it was a very edifying place to be. And, although Esther didn’t tell anyone…she was a Jew.

There were many reasons for her to be very reluctant to join the king’s harem. On one hand living at the palace, receiving beauty treatments, hanging out with all the other young women of the city, eating wonderful food…kind of sounds like a fun party! But on the other hand, it might have been scary, it might have been intimidating, it might been lonely - sound a little like ministry?

So from the outset, it might seem fun, maybe even adventure…for a little while.  but after while, I imagine that they would all have grown tired of each other, of the competition that existed, the vanity and selfishness of beauty, of the loneliness.

When I look at this part of the story, I see Esther choosing to be obedient. So often we fight what God has for us; we are reluctant to join in the plan because we can’t see what is beyond, what the next thing is that God has for us. Esther appears to go willingly and with courage even though she had no way of knowing what it was God was going to be asking her to do; she had no idea of what was to happen and that God was going to use her and her courageous spirit in a miraculous way to save her people. But we don’t know either and we need to have the same courage that Esther had to go and do as we are commanded to do. Her faithful obedience is a beautiful example to us of the potential of the fulfillment of the promises of God

Like Esther we often need to have faithful courage to follow God’s call of obedience.  We need to walk in obedience even when it doesn't make sense.  We need to keep trusting in God, to keep receiving from God, to keep pointing others to God. “Be rooted and built up in Christ”.

Mary was obedient when she didn’t know the other side either.  May it be to me as you have said.  Wow.  Faithful courage. Willing obedience.  And nations are saved.  You might not feel like you are saving nations, but you are saving hearts one by one.  You are building into them with truth and love and modelling for them what faithful courage looks like.  

Being in ministry, serving a God of grace and compassion, requires a life of courage and obedience.  Often life doesn’t make sense and we go through things either personally or in ministry that make us question God’s purpose and plan.  Things can get hard and difficult, people can try to blow out that flame that is inside of you, but don’t let them.  Walk each step with God. Fan that flame. I want to encourage you today to take those courageous steps of obedience even when you can’t see the other side.  Keep that flame burning inside you so that others may see it and know how side, how deep and how high is the love of Christ.  Take the next step of courageous obedience and enjoy the adventure!  Remember that you are never alone on this journey.  Your Emmanuel is there with you - in the every day.  “Seek first his kingdom and all these things will be given to you”.

I encourage you to step forward with faithful courage and obedience to God to accomplish whatever task he has placed in front of you. Even if it doesn't make sense, even if you can't see the other side.  That is often when God is doing his greatest work - when we can't see what is going on (that way we can't wreck it!). But we can certainly be blessed by his work in our lives when we have followed him in obedience.