Jan and I were having a phone conversation with a husband-and-wife pastoral team. They are good and sound leaders. In our conversation, we talked about how to lead a church through a tumultuous season.
As the conversation progressed, the Lord spoke about continuing to hold on to the reins of their calling and continuing to faithfully lead when it was discovered that other leaders were sinning, faithful servants were dying, and they stood on the cusp of a large building project.
There are seasons when so much is happening simultaneously that leading people is a real challenge. It’s at that point that taking the reins and continuing to lead a church, no matter what is happening, is a critical decision to make.
Holding onto the reins is different from the lyrics of the song “Jesus, Take the Wheel.” Those who are following God’s heart cannot simply take their hands off the reins of their assignment. They must continue to hold on and trust God at a deeper level. This is a mark of those who have endured the conflicts of a challenging season yet remained faithful to the Lord and did not give up, resigning themselves to say “Que sera, sera”, whatever will be will be.”
When it feels like we are riding the wild bronc of turmoil and uncertainty, the Lord wants us to demonstrate our faithfulness to Him by holding onto the reins of our calling and not allowing what is happening to throw us off the saddle of our calling.
If we hold onto the reins of our calling and choose to stay in the saddle, we will emerge from a disruptive and uncertain season more secure in our calling, having trusted the Lord with the outcome. This kind of security happens because we experienced the redeeming work of God when we were not sure whether we could complete the ride of our assignment when we first left the chute and faced an unforeseen season of change.
This is an updated edition of a post originally published on Garris Elkins
Featured Image by by317 from Pixabay
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