Recently, I got to talk with a church planter in North Carolina who has been at this about the same length of time I have (4 years). We had met back in South Carolina at a friends house a year ago but got to really chat for about 30 minutes the other day and it was refreshing to hear his heart behind this blog post. I can relate to the journey of church planting and the challenge when things are not up and to the right. If you are a church planter I hope this will bless you like it blessed me:
We’ve all got a unique journey
by Jeff Kapusta
This past year has been a challenging one on many fronts. It has been a roller coaster ride of joy and frustration. God has been teaching me many things and someday I’ll pass them along. However, one of the things I’m learning is that God really does see things differently than we do. I read this today and it literally stopped me in my tracks.
“There is always the temptation to look at someone and judge the amount of God’s blessing upon his life based upon the number of people who have chosen to follow him. But if numbers tell the whole story, we would have to assume that God removed His blessing from Jesus toward the end of His ministry! In the weeks prior to His crucifixion the crowds began to wane. In the end there were only a handful of faithful men and women who dared to be associated with Him. Followship is not an accurate indicator of one’s worthiness to be followed.” Andy Stanley–The Next Generation Leader.
Too often I’ve judged the favor of God based upon whether or not all the numbers were up and to the right. How wrong I was. Next time you are tempted to think that you are any less blessed because the numbers are down and nobody is asking you to speak at conferences just remember that Jesus’ numbers dropped too and He never spoke at a conference either. Your journey is unique! Enjoy it!
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