Avoiding Bitterness in Ministry: A Call for Grace and Humility
Num 20:10-12, 24
How easy it is for us as ministers to add our own personal flare and attitude in the delivery of an otherwise perfectly sound message! When you preach, is your attitude, "I’ll show them!" or is it, "I’ll show HIM!" You see, the Lord said, “Because ye believed me not, to sanctify me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore ye shall not bring this congregation into the land which I have given them.” What did Moses doubt? He doubted that God’s planned delivery of the message would be sufficient! Therefore, he not only changed it, but added to it! Did the Lord command Moses to rebuke them? No, He did not! He only said to speak to the rock. However, Moses thought they needed a good, stiff rebuke!
How foolish it is for us in our law-shaped frame of mind to think that our thrashings yield better results than God’s Grace flowing from the rock! It was said of our Lord as He hang upon the cross, “They gave him vinegar to drink mingled with gall: and when he had tasted thereof, he would not drink.” Gall being symbolic of bitterness, our Lord refused to drink of the waters of bitterness! I wish it were so of every man of God. Unfortunately, we get hurt, disappointed, let down, and downright bitter if we do not daily empty ourselves before His presence, and allow Him to replace that bitterness with His Spirit!
How often have we mingled our sermons with gall, only to hurt ourselves and those closest to us? I see here that Moses was the one with the attitude, but Aaron also suffered! Our closest followers are a direct manifestation of who we are. We need to be careful what we sow, for in due season we shall reap a full harvest! “But if ye bite and devour one another, take heed that ye be not consumed one of another.” Gal 5:15. If your preaching has no Grace, do not be surprised when your followers die with a root of bitterness.
May this be our prayer today as ministers of God’s Grace, “Lord, help us from this day forward to be full of the Spirit of God, and therefore full of Grace!”
~ Pastor Gary Caudill
How easy it is for us as ministers to add our own personal flare and attitude in the delivery of an otherwise perfectly sound message! When you preach, is your attitude, "I’ll show them!" or is it, "I’ll show HIM!" You see, the Lord said, “Because ye believed me not, to sanctify me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore ye shall not bring this congregation into the land which I have given them.” What did Moses doubt? He doubted that God’s planned delivery of the message would be sufficient! Therefore, he not only changed it, but added to it! Did the Lord command Moses to rebuke them? No, He did not! He only said to speak to the rock. However, Moses thought they needed a good, stiff rebuke!
How foolish it is for us in our law-shaped frame of mind to think that our thrashings yield better results than God’s Grace flowing from the rock! It was said of our Lord as He hang upon the cross, “They gave him vinegar to drink mingled with gall: and when he had tasted thereof, he would not drink.” Gall being symbolic of bitterness, our Lord refused to drink of the waters of bitterness! I wish it were so of every man of God. Unfortunately, we get hurt, disappointed, let down, and downright bitter if we do not daily empty ourselves before His presence, and allow Him to replace that bitterness with His Spirit!
How often have we mingled our sermons with gall, only to hurt ourselves and those closest to us? I see here that Moses was the one with the attitude, but Aaron also suffered! Our closest followers are a direct manifestation of who we are. We need to be careful what we sow, for in due season we shall reap a full harvest! “But if ye bite and devour one another, take heed that ye be not consumed one of another.” Gal 5:15. If your preaching has no Grace, do not be surprised when your followers die with a root of bitterness.
May this be our prayer today as ministers of God’s Grace, “Lord, help us from this day forward to be full of the Spirit of God, and therefore full of Grace!”
~ Pastor Gary Caudill