Stalls, Setbacks & Side-Steps
Dec. 10, 2020.
I hate pauses. For people who are progress oriented, having to slow down feels like a death sentence. And yet, an honest perusal of our lives will assuradely reveal many stalls, setbacks & side-steps. It usually takes most of us decades of walking with Jesus to realize there is something very holy going on during these slow-downs.
#JesusStories: One of the undeniable themes of the original incarnation story is bad-timing and back-steps. Luke 2 records that Mary was forced to take a required trip to Josephs’ ancestral home for governmental record-keeping while she was nine-months pregnant. And if that weren’t inconvenient enough, the only accommodations were a cave-like animal shelter. And it was there that she went into labor, gave birth, and laid the Christ-child in a feeding trough. Are you kidding me? Then Matthew 2 tells that after Jesus was born, Joseph was visited by an angel who told them to flee in the night to Egypt to avoid Herod’s jealous wrath. And then after they fled, all the remaining Jewish male babies were put to death. That was a grievous back-lash. It was years later before Joseph would be informed in a dream that it was safe to return home to Nazareth. In Mark 1, when it was finally time for Jesus to begin his ministry, he was instead swept off to the wilderness for forty days to face-off with Satan. FINALLY, in John 2 we see the wedding at Cana where Jesus’ ministry of miracles began. But before that wondrous day, there were A LOT of pauses, half-starts, and push-backs. Is that the best that could be procured for the Messiah and the launch of the greatest rescue story of all time?
Truthfully, as a life-long project achiever, I do not understand this long list of set-backs in the Messiah story. Nor do I understand pauses and intersections when they occur in my life and leadership. Do you? However, after sixty-plus years of being disappointed by God’s pauses, I have come to the conclusion that there must be something holy going on here. If the first incarnation story needed all those earthly set-backs before the heavenly mysteries (stars, angel choirs, divine dreams), then perhaps our lives and ministries need the pauses too. Can we be good with that?
#DinnerChurchQuotes: “The incarnational model leads to little Jesuses, walking across all boundaries to be in every nook and cranny of society.” -David Fitch
#PracticalStuff: Several of our pastors are reporting that miracles and healings and preaching impact is still happening at their sidewalk Dinner Churches. Covid aside, Jesus is still showing up around these buffet lines and doing his thing. Perhaps it would be misguided to assume that we will regain our traction once we get back indoors. It appears that Jesus isn’t waiting.
Blessings & Boldness,
Verlon
Dr. Verlon and Melodee Fosner have led a multi-site Assemblies of God Dinner Church in Seattle, Washington since 1999 (www.CommunityDinners.com). In this decade when more churches in the U.S. are declining than thriving, and when ninety-six churches a week are closing, Verlon and Melodee sensed that a different way of doing church was needed for their 97-year old Seattle congregation. It soon became obvious that they were not the only ones in need of a different path. They joined the FX team in 2016 and founded the Dinner Church Collective. And then in 2019 founded the Dinner Church School of Leadership. There is a lot to be gained when church leaders begin to see open doors in the American landscape that they had previously overlooked. Therein lies the journey for those who will forge a new future for the American Church.
Categories: Uncategorized
12.11.20
By: michael cox
With the Lord, a setback is often time’s a setup. God is always preparing us for his plans and purpose. Jesus going to the wilderness for forty days to deal with the temptations of the devil before public ministry is one example. His wilderness experience comes on the heals of his baptism. After heaven opening and hearing that he is the beloved and pleasing son of God, Jesus finds himself alone with Satan. The story of Joseph is the most epic example of the Lord blessing and preparing his people in times of despair and frustration. After Joseph’s dream that portrays him as the Lord’s special and anointed son, his brothers conspire to kill him. He finds himself in prison, in a foreign land, unjustly accused and alone. His current circumstances do not reflect the promises of the Lord. Despite his situation, Joseph blesses his enemies and rises to unimaginable power. The helping presence of the Lord is always with him. It is in the middle of a famine that Joseph is able to provide for an entire nation. His journey reminds us that God is always seeking our good, even when we have been abandoned by those closest to us. The Lord is graciously processing us, transforming us into people that can stand in the face of disaster and produce the tangible fruit of his blessing. “But Joseph said to them, “Do not fear, for am I in the place of God? “As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today. “So do not fear; I will provide for you and your little ones.” Thus, he comforted them and spoke kindly to them (Genesis 50:19-21).” It is true that, with the Lord there is no lack. He really is seeking the best for his children, preparing us for greater things than we would ever choose for ourselves.
12.12.20
By: Verlon Fosner
Well said Michael.
12.14.20
By: Josh Gering
I am with you in trying to understand what these pauses are all about. I have sensed them though, as you have stated, in my years of ministry. I too have often tried to figure out what was going on. Did I lose my focus, my passion or was God done with me in my current position or done with me in ministry for good? I receive so much hope when I look at the pages of scripture and see real people with real problems going through real circumstances but still staying the course to see the purpose of God carried out. Still, in the midst of my pauses, sometimes I see growth but sometimes I’m just confused. I am reminded, however, that my life is not about me. Jesus is writing a bigger story through me and even if I don’t understand in the present, or even when I look back, I can trust that He is working His will. Through the pain, through the struggle and even through a pandemic. We must learn to be at peace, We must learn to trust.
12.16.20
By: Nicole Fike
Wow! This resonates with me. I am definitely in a “God pause” but, He is keeping me busy in other areas. I’m still listening, praying and learning. Waiting patiently for the green light.
12.16.20
By: Marion Sortore
I so agree with what you have said, Verlon, and the comments of my colleagues. I believe this is the first ‘pause’ that I have consciously recognized as a pause. A time to reflect, reenergize, learn and prepare – to grow deeper in love with Jesus. It doesn’t mean that I’m not chomping at the bit to get into a new tempo – or maybe we are all learning a new tempo. The fact that people all over the world are experiencing the same things makes this seem a more important pause than others I have lived and grown through. It will be interesting in a decade to look back and see the wonderful things He has done!
12.16.20
By: Roger Bird
It’s so hard to get our heads around this truth, isn’t it? In our minds, things going smoothly is a sign of God’s blessing, and His will being done. On the other hand, when there are pauses, stalls, and setbacks, we can interpret those as a signal that we’re on the wrong track. Maybe we’ve misheard His call, or are headed in the wrong direction.
It’s helpful to be reminded of these stories as we are personally stepping out in faith over the next 9 months or so to make some major changes in our church and my job/ministry. Sometimes, like Moses, we need time in the desert just talking to God or being trained on shepherding sheep before we try our hand at shepherding people. Or maybe there are pauses while God works in the hearts of others before we can proceed with the plan.
12.16.20
By: Rodney Martin
It’s easy to look back and see how God was leading in a pause. To gain a theological insight into what was happening or what God was doing. I look back on my years of ministry and see how God was teaching, forming and guiding me during pause moments. At the time they were annoying. In the moment, I find it difficult to see anything in a pause other than my own frustration that things are not going the way “I” think they should be going. Maybe that is part of the purpose of a pause. To learn to move in the Spirit and trust the Lord because it is God’s mission that we are engaging in.
01.20.21
By: Carl Bauchspiess
Perhaps the pauses in our lives can be compared to the pauses between notes in a musical composition. The pauses are just as much a part of the music as the notes, Without the pauses, the music would just a jangled noise. The pauses can be long or short but are absolutely necessary to the composition. God’s pauses in our life can be the same, perhaps frustrating but necessary. Jesus, help us see you at work in the pauses.
05.16.21
By: Penney Forbes
There are two main human sins from which all the others derive: impatience and indolence. It was because of impatience that they were expelled from Paradise; it is because of indolence that they do not return. Yet perhaps there is only one major sin: impatience. Because of impatience, they were expelled; because of impatience, they do not return. —Franz Kafka, The Blue Octavo Notebooks
While the beloved Czech novelist Franz Kafka may be wrong to place impatience above all other sins, he is right to shine a light on its potential harm.
If Cain had been patient with his brother and himself, he might have taken the time to heed God’s warnings to address the bitterness and resentment that had taken root in his heart. You may remember that “When the people saw that Moses delayed in coming down from the mountain, they gathered around Aaron and said to him, “Come, make us a god who will go before us because this Moses, the man who brought us up from the land of Egypt—we do not know what has happened to him!” Then Aaron replied to them, “Take off the gold rings that are on the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters and bring them to me (Exodus 32:1-2).” Therefore, if Aaron and the children of Israel would have waited patiently for Moses to return, they would not have incurred the wrath of God by casting a Golden Calf to worship instead of the living God (See Exodus 32).
Conversely, if Joseph had not been patient, he would have never endured the scorn of false accusation and imprisonment to become ruler over so many and rescuer of God’s people. If Job had not been patient, his lessons in perseverance would not have blessed the world. The man who patiently endures the temptations and trials that come to him is the truly happy man. For once his testing is complete, he will receive the crown of life, which the Lord has promised to all who love Him. James 1:12 (Philips Translation)