Fall 1990

A Call to Go Beyond Our Calling
Wade E Taylor

"Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort; who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God" II Cor 1:3-4.

Many within the Body of Christ, who are struggling with a personal problem or need, have been un-intentionally hurt by another Christian through their well- intended, but misguided opinion or counsel. After being misunderstood and deeply hurt, these wounded Christians draw back and refuse to again expose their problem.

Gradually, these hurting Christians begin to feel justified with their reaction and become critical, blaming others for their problem. Finally, they are found alone, having withdrawn from fellowship with the Body of Christ: lonely, hurting, bitter, and as a result, crippled - limping along in their spiritual walk.

There is an urgent need (right where you are), for quality ministries to reach this hurting segment of the Body of Christ. However, there is a price that must be paid in order to successfully enter into this ministry. Those who are burdened for, or desire to minister in this area of critical need they must be willing to subject themselves to "dealings" that are specially required for their own spiritual discipline and growth. These special dealings are necessary so these "specially prepared" ministries will be able to relate, with sincere heart compassion and "experienced" wisdom, to those who have been wounded and hurt. Only then can these wounded Christians be helped.

Since these especially arranged "dealings" are beyond anything needed to produce their own spiritual maturity, each one who desires to be used in this ministry must give the Lord specific permission to take them through the necessary "trials and tribulations" that will prepare them to relate to the needs of these wounded and hurting Christians. A ministry to these can only come through one that has been reduced by the Lord to having a meek and quiet spirit (I Peter 3:4).

In the Garden of Eden, the enemy told Eve that if she and Adam would partake of "The tree of the knowledge of good and evil" they would gain the right to be "as gods." That is, they would be able to choose for themselves what may be right or wrong (See Gen 3:3-5). They partook and died spiritually, loosing their relationship of total dependence upon God.

This right that was gained in the Garden of Eden, to choose between good and evil, remains with us, even after our sins are forgiven and cleansed through the blood that Jesus shed in our behalf upon the Cross. Apart from a total commitment of our lives to the Kingdom, in which we submit our self-life to death upon the cross and make the Lord Jesus Christ our King, we continue to live and function on the lower level of the "knowledge of good and evil," attempting to rightly choose the good and reject the evil. Many times, we fall short of true understanding and not only come short of His best for us, but hurt the spiritual walk of others through our sincere but faulty counsel. Only when we make Jesus our Lord, will He make the decisions for us.

The Lord recognizes this right to choose for ourselves, that Adam and Eve (we) gained in the Garden of Eden. He will not cross this line unless we give Him permission to do so. If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me" Matt 16:24. The "if" in this verse tells us that we must die to our right to choose for ourselves, and choose to submit our will to Him. Otherwise, we continue in our own ways.

When I came to understand this, I prayerfully gave back to the Lord my right to do as I choose, judging what is good or evil. Then, I unconditionally submitted my life to His Lordship, and began to look to Him to make these choices for me. When I made Jesus the "Lord" of my life, I gave Him the right to work within me, or to deal with me, as He chooses, for whatever purpose He may have. The Lord has, over the many years that I have made Him Lord of my life, done within me many things that I have not liked or understood. However, I have (slowly) learned that these things were either for my eternal good, for His higher purposes, or to prepare me to minister to others, especially to those who are wounded and hurting. I yet marvel at the patience of our Lord.

The dealings that He will take us through for this purpose are apart from, and completely different than any need that we may have within our own lives. However, our willingness to go through these experiences will qualify us to become an instrument in His hand, to help and encourage another in a way that could not happen through any other means. Whenever we complain to the Lord about the things that we find ourselves going through, the Lord will remind us that we gave Him the right to do this, when we submitted our lives to Him and made Him our Lord.

There is great satisfaction, along with a sense of purpose and attainment, that comes with this. "He made known His ways unto Moses, His acts unto the children of Israel" Psalm 103.7. Moses paid a price for what he knew and understood. Therefore, he had a different relationship to God than Israel.

We are to "Comfort them that are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God" 2 Cor 1:4b. This means that we are qualified, or enabled to help others, because of the help that we ourselves received from the Lord, when we were "caused" by Him to experience a similar circumstance.

The comfort that we received from the Lord will help us to better understand the frustrations and hurts that others experience. We will be able to impart to those who hurt, an understanding of the way through. Also, our having gone through a similar experience will keep us humble. It will cause us to realize that we have no right to judge or to be critical. It will give us a spirit of compassion towards those who are hurting.

Only after the Lord has set in our path a divine arrangement, through which He faithfully brings us, will we be able to understand the tribulations of another. Only then will we be able to minister the needed healing to these wounded spirits. We must recognize that very often the things we go through may be for the benefit of another. If we fail to see this, we may react and fall short of becoming a vessel prepared to help others through their tribulation.

We are only qualified to minister to others after we have been tested and proven to be faithful; otherwise our ministry will become harsh and vindictive. As we are taken through His dealings, we come to understand His ways and are able to apply these principles to the lives of others.

A Christian who has been through the dealings of the Lord will minister out of a broken and contrite spirit. Through such a ministry, many will be drawn closer to the Lord and restored to fellowship with the Body of Christ, as they are inwardly healed of past hurts and wounds.

The need is urgent, are you willing to leave your place of comfort and go "further?