I recently officiated the wedding of a former student of mine, and I was reminded of how God, in his grace, uses our inexperience for His good and glory. I started at this church fresh out of seminary and spent six years learning how to do ministry. I use the term “learning” very loosely by the way. A more accurate way to describe it would be failing with a few bright moments in between. I said and did things that I would be embarrassed by today.
But as I talked to this former student and his parents about our years together, I saw that they didn’t see things the same way I did. Sure, there were moments of disaster that we can, fortunately, laugh about today (like when we went ahead with a camping trip in sub-freezing temperatures). But much more so, they spoke of how meaningful our times together were. Subpar teaching, ill-advised events, and inexperience were barriers that God easily overcame.
I say all of this to encourage all of you to take that step to be used by God. I often hear people talking about this idea of readiness for Kingdom service as if there’s a concrete point where one becomes fully ready. Serving theLord is like having a child. You may not be financially or emotionally ready, but you step out in faith knowing thatGod will provide. Based on experience, I wasn’t ready to be a pastor at a church, but God provided where I lacked.Let an open opportunity (and not complete readiness) be your guide in knowing when to serve, knowing it is theLord working on your behalf anyway (Deut. 6:10-12).