Religion: Never send a boy to do a man’s job.

Published 11:40 pm Friday, May 27, 2011

“Yea, they opened their mouth wide against me, and said, Aha, aha . . . .” (Psalm 35:21).

Today’s devotional proves success is not for those who quit because of fears.

Oh, how comical is adult Bible writer David, before God designed fearful circumstances and fierce military warfare to mature him.

See David crying hysterically like a baby to God saying his enemies just scared him saying, “Aha, aha” (Psalms 35: 21 above) while growling like dogs with their angry, scary voices” (Psalms 59: 6), even offending David by belching in his face with their nasty breath with every word they angrily spoke to him (Psalms 59: 7). David bemoans that their teeth while angrily threatening to kill him looked like sharp military spears, arrows, and swords (Psalms 57: 4).

For David to become one of the world’s most renowned military warriors, king of Israel, and family lineage to conceive Jesus of Nazareth, God had to mature David by purposely placing him in many fearful circumstances.

God will do the same for every person who wants to be used mightily and effective for God. God cannot use scaredy cats.

Fearless spiritual maturity and confidence never come on silver platters. They never arrive without fiery trials, warfare, and many embarrassing, shameful failures. Such are only God answering our many historical prayers to make us powerful and effective for him.

Statistics show that the average stay of pastors in today’s churches are only 22 months (not even two years) because of the present day mental and emotional stress to keep a church in fellowship, numerical stability and growth, plus financial stability.

I am now 70, and I can well remembered when I pastored my first church at age 20. Within a few months, I cried to my wife that I was going to resign the next worship service because a deacon rebuked me for something I preached in my sermon.

I have been pastor of Temple of the Lord here in Dalton now for 39 years. I have pastored only five churches in my 50 years of ministry, making my average stay 10 years per church. These many decades were not without much warfare over my doctrines, pastoral leadership, and failures just as all pastors experience.

Now feel David’s new maturity and confidence in the following scripture after God’s fearful methods of maturing him: “I will not be afraid of ten thousands of people who set themselves against me round about” (circling to destroy me — Psalms 3:6). David’s historical stresses actually enlarged him as a child of God, Bible author, song writer, warrior, king and person.

Ah, that’s the confidence we ourselves must possess in our trials and defeats to reach our full God-like potentials and Christ-like capabilities.

The Rev. G David Henderson is the pastor of Temple of the Lord at 611 S. Green St., Dalton. You can reach him at soulwinning4u@optilink.com. His column appears on Saturdays.