4/19/26

This post is definitely out of order, but I've found the contents of it to be very encouraging to myself, and I hope that it can do the same thing for you in my sharing. Perhaps my untimeliness will be used by God for a timely encouragement to you!

As I returned from the Exponential Conference last month, it had become very clear that God was directing me to move more into pastoral engagement and thinking in my ministry. And what I mean by this is not in the general sense that American churches use the term, but rather in the vein of shepherding. I was pressed by the Spirit in my private reading as well as through the many warnings of seasoned ministers speaking at the conference not to neglect the absolute necessity of healthy ministers who are connected to the Vine and bearing fruit in season. I heard story after story of wonderful people being used by God in powerful ways only to find themselves alone and lost having "forgotten their first love". Not only were there the stories of these people sharing, but they also shared the sobering statistics of people in ministry experiencing isolation, depression, moral failure, suicidal desires, and more. However, all of these were traced back to a few primary things: our diligence to maintain our physical, mental, relational, and spiritual health through intentional assessment and adjustment. 

As I pondered these things and asked God why it was pressing me as it was, He seemed to be teaching me a few things. Firstly, He was instructing me in my own diligent devotion to my personal formation which happens in the presence of God and His word. Secondly, He was asking me to consider how I can better instill this desperation for God's presence into those I'm discipling in Christ. He reminded me that we can teach people all of the right tools and approaches to reconciling nonbelievers to God, but if in the midst of that I neglect to teach people to be united to God, then I will build people up to be destroyed by the weights or ministry, temptations of life, or any number of things. I had begun to get caught up in the things we do, and the Holy Spirit reminded me that if the Gospel is about reconciliation with the Father, then we should be diligent in our experience of this Gospel reality, not just sharing it with others. 2 Corinthians 5 talks about us being sent as ministers of reconciliation - reconciling people to God; however, after saying that, Paul says to these ministers, "be reconciled to God". But wait, aren't these the ones who were already reconciled? It's almost as if reconciliation is not simply a task completed but a way of diligent living where we are drawn near to God.

As I was processing all of these things in my hotel room at the conference, I was moved to read 1 Samuel, so I started in chapter 1 with the story of Eli, his two sons, and the family of Samuel. As I read and meditated on this story, I was drawn to a pain as I saw that the sons of this minister of God had fallen so far from where they should've been - so far that 1 Samuel 2:12 says they didn't know the LORD. This picture is contrasted by the picture of Samuel - faithful and diligent in his service before God. 1 Samuel 2:21 describes Samuel as growing in the presence of the LORD - a necessary step in his formation towards what we read in chapter 3, verse 19 where it says that God was with Samuel as he grew, and He didn't let any of Samuel's words fall to the ground. This is all backstory to what I initially intended to share here, so let's get to the main point...

One of the first days back on campus after the conference, I noticed in my interactions with the Christian students that we disciple that there was a strange heaviness among a few of them. As I talked with them individually, they described a frustration with their spiritual condition - a numbness and discouragement that was leading to an unwanted weariness and weight. As I asked them questions to discern the root of the symptoms, it became clear that all of the things they were desiring have been promised to us when we seek and commune with God. They didn't need more preachers to tell them the truth of God's word in doctrinal systems or members of the Church to encourage them with hopeful words - though both of these are great things. What they needed was to experience the power of the Holy Spirit who is the Great Comforter. They needed the guidance not of me, but of Jesus who is the Good Shepherd. They needed an encouragement that goes deeper than my natural words might lift them - that only their God can give them. It wasn't that they didn't know in their heads what was true, but that their soul wasn't experiencing the reality that their minds knew of and their hearts longed for.

I proposed two different points of action for the guys I was talking to: engaging in Lectio Divina, and a time of prayer and solitude with God. Our larger group ended up participating in the discipline of Lectio Divina in the CSUF Arboretum, but the second student decided to engage in prayer and solitude in a different part of the large garden. Our time of Lectio was great as we allowed the Holy Spirit to speak directly to each of us individually as we meditated on a passage of scripture together; however, I find that I was more encouraged by the report back from the other student.

When I sent him out to pray alone, I encouraged him to be very honest with God - telling Him exactly how he felt about himself and how God was interacting with him. The other thing I encouraged him to do was to reflect on and remember the things that God has done in the past - either for him, or in the lives of other people. It can become easy to lose sight of God when we become obsessive over the present issue or emotion. After my brief exhortation, I sent him on his way to meet with God; and as promised in His word, He came to comfort His people! As he sat and prayed, the student came across Psalm 77 which God used powerfully to minister to him in a way I was unable to do. The psalm described many of the things I had encouraged him to consider, but it was undoubtedly the Spirit of God that met and ministered that day! What a relief! That God is a good enough Shepherd that I can guide people to His presence and let Him do the work of divine comfort, challenge, encouraging, reminding, etc. In the last day, it won't be the people who ministered the most who are received by Jesus, but those whom He knew. If all we do as ministers of reconciliation is usher people into the transformative presence of the Almighty God, I think we would see profoundly just how powerful our God really is. This doesn't mean we take a passive seat in ministry though - after all, it is a CO-mission. However, we don't produce the transformative power. That is something only the Holy Spirit can do, so our job is reconciling people to this God - both others and ourselves. This should be an encouragement and relief for those of you who have accepted to follow Jesus into His command to make disciples. We have been given the ministry of reconciling the world to God that they might experience the eternal life of knowing God the Father and Whom He sent (2 Corinthians 5, John 17:3).