OPEN HANDS

Last week I had to do the most difficult thing I have had to do in my 18 plus years of pastoral ministry: resign from the senior pastor position of Grace. It is the most difficult thing because for the past 7 years I have invested my life in the lives of the people of Grace. God has used them incredibly in my life, to encourage me, to help me to grow in Christ. I have also been privileged to see God change many lives, over these years, and be a front row witness to people taking the next step in their spiritual journey.

I didn't want to leave. I wanted to remain the pastor here for the rest of my ministry days. That was my goal, my desire, my prayer, my will. But, I have learned some things over these past 18 years, and one of those is that a particular truth in Scripture seems to be applicable to many situations in life and ministry: "my ways are higher than your ways; and my thoughts are higher than your thoughts." God's plan, His way, His thought, His will, in this case, was that I resign and be willing to go where God wants me to go, and to be used as God wants to use me. This also includes a willingness to let go of the people that I have loved so much; and have had the privilege of serving for these 7 years. God has another plan for them as well.

The picture in my mind, that helps me to get God's perspective, and to humbly submit to His Word, is the image of open hands. Imagine it with me; or better yet, hold your two hands out in front of you. Keep your hands open and imagine, in your hands, everything, including the relationships, that God has given you. Now, close your fingers over each hand so that you make 2 fists. This is our natural tendency: to hold on tightly to what we have, to what we want. We love our spouse, our children, our friends, our house, our job. We can easily forget that all of these are given to us by God, and in biblical, eternal reality, they are God's, not ours. He has loaned them to us, for a time, to be good stewards of them, and to apply them for God's glory. We also have the special blessing of enjoying them, as His incredible gifts to us.

But, there are times when God wants, for His own purposes, to take something or someone out of our hands. Our tendency, because of our love for them, is to tightly hang on to them until our fingers are pried off, by force, and we have no choice but to let go. God is certainly capable of prying our fingers off, and taking from us people and things we love dearly; but that is not His will for us. His will for us is pictured by the wide open hands. Open your hands again and picture it. God's will is that my hands would remain open, so that when it is time for Him to take something, or someone, from me, I would be humbly submitting to the truth that God knows best; and is doing what is best.

So, as I resigned, I pictured myself holding open my hands as He took this particular ministry from me. Don't get me wrong: It hurt like crazy; it was heartbreaking; and I was tempted to close my fingers and play tug of war with God. By God's grace, I decided not to, this time. It was the hardest thing God has asked me to do in my ministry years; but I have never gone wrong in trusting God with anything in my life. It was the right thing to do. It may be, that in the years to come, I will be able to look back and answer some of the "whys" that are still unanswered. But if not, I will continue to trust, and will use this time to grow as much as I can; as well as ask God to use me, for spiritual impact, in the lives of those in my next ministry.

Growing in Grace, with open hands,
Greg