God Is Giving Me an Opportunity to Trust Him
Fearing people is a dangerous trap, but trusting the Lord means safety. Proverbs 29:25 NLT
Just a few weeks ago an unemployed pastor friend was trying to find a church and a conference to pick him up. I told Him how Jesus holds the stars of the churches in His hand in Revelation 1, and I reminded Him how those stars are the messengers, pastors and leaders of the church and how safe we are in His hands. I wondered why my friend was so nervous. Well now I understand.
Many of you already know that as well as contributing to Sabbath School 
Net, I have also been the Bible worker/lay pastor of the Tampa First Seventh-day Adventist Church for 11 years. These have been the best 11 years of my life! I have formed so many meaningful relationships in my Bible study growth groups with unchurched families as well as churched families. Through personal Bible studies, I have developed relationships with the people with whom I study as well as with those I take along to mentor. I am now studying with families who heard about me from their friends and families with whom I studied 11 years ago. One family with whom I have been studying for 10 years is finally coming to church every week, and I will soon be baptizing one of them at the beach. I am so thankful Tampa First has supported my ministry long enough for me to see this family and many others learning to walk closer with Jesus.
Did you ever get one of those texts from your boss, “I need to meet with you tomorrow?” I got one of those a few weeks ago from my senior pastor. I knew the church had been struggling financially, and he did not tell me why he needed to talk with me, as he normally does. So I had a pretty good idea that my church could not pay my salary any longer.
Before I met with the pastor I had an early morning class at the school where I have been having classes to teach students how to share Jesus with their friends through personal as well as group Bible studies. This time I was teaching the 9th and 10th graders how to conduct a growth group in their homes. Before I started the class, the regular teacher said she had something on her heart she wanted to share with everyone. She said how there was nobody in this word you can really trust except God. Everyone else is human, and they can only do so much, but God will always provide and take care of us even when no one else can. I knew that talk was not for the class. I knew it was for me. God was preparing me for what was about to happen a couple hours later when I would meet with the pastor. God was showing me how much He cared by inspiring the teacher to give her kids a little pep talk that was actually for me. God was telling me not to worry. I could still trust Him, and He would take care of me.
My meeting with the pastor confirmed what I already sensed. Still, the church wanted to go the extra mile and make sure I had a salary for the next couple months as I looked for a job.
In the past I have lost jobs and girl friends and cried and cried about it, only to look back at how God worked things out and realize there was actually nothing to cry about! God worked things out better than ever each time. So now that I am older and wiser I am not really heartbroken over this, because experience has taught me that God will always lead me to a better experience.
Already a pastor at a very small nearby church is working on a way for me to stay in the ministry, help his church grow, and enable me to still be available to continue ministering in the entire Tampa Bay areal. His church is too small to support a full-time Bible worker, but the pastor’s plan is to allow people to contribute from directly from the Tampa Bay area as well as the world. This will enable me to not only minister in the Tampa Bay area but also to be available for evangelism and training seminars around the world! (You can see more of the details on my personal website.
Most of all thank you for your prayers! I don’t exactly know how all of this is going to work out, but I do know I am safe trusting myself to God’s hands!
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