Good Thursday morning! Have you ever looked at the stories around you? Many people have good stories in them. Harold gave us one last night, complete with a moral lesson.
The story goes like this: Harold had an uncle who thought that he could preach a sermon. The old pastor of the church gave up his pulpit one Sunday to this man to let him preach that sermon of sermons. The man strode up to the pulpit full of pride and confidence in his own ability. As he stood at the pulpit, everything he had prepared to say in his mind was completely gone. In humiliation, he stepped down and walked back to his seat. The old minister told him a simple truth: had he walked up to the pulpit in the same way he stepped down; he would have been able to come down in the same way he went up!
In our own pride, we often mistake a lust of the flesh for the calling of God. If your 'calling' includes visions of public acclaim and glorifying yourself, it probably isn't a calling from God. Many have sat out in the congregation and thought, "I could do better than that!" during a dull sermon. Just like Babe Ruth or Hank Aaron, not every 'at bat' is going to be a home run for every minister. I remind myself that even the great writers didn't hit a home run with each novel they wrote. Sometimes the best shows on television put out a stinker of an episode. Of course, every fan of every sport has watched a game or match from their easy chair and thought that he or she could do better on some occasion.
However, those called to minister to God's people do so week after week with humility. And every time that minister mounts the steps to the pulpit, he is probably saying a prayer for guidance from God. Instead of stepping up with an "I got this!" in his mind, the thoughts are probably more like, "Lord, please don't let me fall on my face in this! Please remind me not to use Mrs. Henderson's cat as an illustration again; it died yesterday." Peter calls us to humble ourselves. Why does God want us to humble ourselves? First of all so that He doesn't have to, which can be painful for us, and second, so that we realize every day our need for Him.
People who discover their gift from God use it often for His glory. With that gift and with practice they become quite good at what they do. In time, these folks make what they do look easy. That day that you are sitting there thinking, "Man, what a dull sermon, I could do better." That minister is probably thinking much the same thing... except that he is probably right, and you are most likely quite wrong. Certainly it is possible that the world's greatest minister is sitting out in some congregation waiting for the call of God to get him going, but it is more likely that God has his best ministers already in the pulpit spreading the Good News and getting better with each sermon. I certainly hope my writing is getting better with each devotional!
Practice faithfully what God has called you to do, and trust in Him to guide you!
Bucky
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