I was with you in weakness, in fear, and in
much trembling. And my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words
of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your
faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God. – 1
Corinthians 2.3-5
Serving Christ can be a scary thing. At the moment, not that
it is anything new, I am really battling with that. The devil throws up things to confuse
and confound our ministry. It seems like time after time we see some good, then
we see battles. It is important to know how
to deal with my weakness and my fear and my trembling.
The trembling Paul talks about is 'shaking with fear.' I know the feeling.
I think most of us in ministry know the feeling. It is good
to know that we are not the first and that we are not alone.
Paul realised that the key to dealing with his weakness and
fear and trembling was not to depend on himself.
Paul knew that the key to his ministry was not to try and
persuade men to come to Christ. He knew it was not up to him to force a
decision. He knew indeed that he was a ‘fisher of men’ but he knew that only
Christ could fill the net.
People are not going to be persuaded to come to Christ by my
wisdom of speaking ability. Salvation is only a manifestation of the Holy
Spirit and a demonstration of the power of God. There is no such thing as a
good or bad ‘soul winner.’ There are only obedient or disobedient - faith or
unfaithful believers.
Victory over weakness and fear comes when we remember that
is not us, but the power of God as seen through His Holy Spirit that brings men
to Christ.
No comments:
Post a Comment