Workshop The Apostle Paul on Brokenness, Leadership & Disability Bill Mills
Joni: Bill Mills: Hi, I'm Joni Eareckson Tada and you're listening to a resource from the Global Access Association, sponsored by Joni and Friends. Learn, connect, and share at www.gaa.joniandfriends.org. Global Access, where disabilities and possibilities meet. Welcome. We are going to be focusing on the Apostle Paul, weakness, leadership. I was thinking last night, listening to Joni, of this text in Matthew Chapter 25. I want to read a few verses from there. You will know that, in the midst of this series of kingdom parables. Verse 31 in Matthew 25, When the Son of Man comes in his glory and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on his left. Then, the king will say to those on his right, Come, you who are blessed by my Father. Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world, for I was hungry and you gave me food. I was thirsty and you gave me drink. I was a stranger and you welcomed me. I was naked and you clothed me. I was sick and you visited me. I was in prison and you came to me. Then, the righteous will answer him saying, Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? When did we see you a stranger and welcome you or naked and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and visit you? The king will answer them, Truly, I say to you, as you did to one of the least of these brothers, you did it to me. In the kingdom of God, our life is measured by how we respond to the least. In the kingdom of this world, our lives are measured by how we respond to the most. This kingdom is in contrast with any other kingdom in the world. Of course, we cannot build a theology of salvation out of this parable, but it is clear from Jesus' teaching that those who belong to Him are known because they share His heart for hurting people. I wanted to begin with that, to give us some perspective. We're going to be spending the rest of our time mostly in I and II Corinthians. Let me tell you just a little about myself. My name is Bill, and I work for a mission organization called Leadership Resources International. We work with pastors with disabilities, not physical, emotional, and spiritual disabilities, but disabled because Bill Mills Page 1 of 19
they do not know how to bring the Word of God to their people. In fact, most of the pastors, about 85% of the pastors, around the world have never been to Bible school or seminary. We are committed in our mission, as Joni and Friends ministry, to the teaching of the Scriptures, because God's Word brings healing, life, and hope to His people. We are helping pastors around the world how to bring the Word of God faithfully to their people with the heart of God. We have a strong focus on skills in studying, teaching, and preaching because in most parts of the world, and we're not unfamiliar with it here in the U.S., a pastor will stand up on Sunday morning, read a Bible verse, and start talking about whatever comes into his or her mind about that text without much thought at all as to what is the message of the author. What is the aim of the author with that text? Why did God put it in the Scripture? Teaching it faithfully. We want to help pastors to teach the Scriptures and not use the Bible to teach their message. The reason that I love Joni and Friends ministry, the reason I'm here, is not because I've experienced disability or even because we have disability in our family, but God has allowed me to minister with Joni and Friends for the last 16 or 17 years, mostly with Family Retreats, but in some other situations as well. I have been transformed in this ministry, learned much about bringing the heart of God to hurting people. We're bringing God's Word, helping pastors faithfully teach, but also to bring the heart of God to hurting people in their ministries. Even though I have not experienced disability in the traditional sense, I have experienced great weakness on many levels. I've had a couple of near death experiences. One was after an accident where I had surgery and then a series of blood clots coming into my lungs. For about a month, I was very near death and I was so weak, I couldn't even pull myself up in the bed. I learned to trust in God, who ministers to the weak and gives us His strength. Just in the last year, I battled lymphoma and went through surgery and about five months of chemo. I personally know a lot about weakness. It's my passion to minister to those who are weak and to help us understand we are all weak and God meets us with His grace and His strength in our times of weakness. That is a great theme of Paul's ministry as well. I'd like to ask you to turn with me to II Corinthians, if you have your Bibles, or you want to listen or read on your phone. Of course, that's good. II Corinthians Chapter 12. We're going to look at a couple of texts from this book and reference I Corinthians as well. Bill Mills Page 2 of 19
Chapter 12 of II Corinthians, Paul talks about that man who is caught up into the third heaven, hearing things that no one has a right to talk about. After that very high and lofty and glorious experience of that vision, he was brought low with his battle with the thorn in the flesh. We're going to pick this up in II Corinthians 12:7, To keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan, to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited. Paul does not tell us what his thorn in the flesh was. There's been a lot of speculation about what his thorn in the flesh might have been. There were some people who say it was poor eyesight. Some say it was a speech impediment. Some say it was a limp. Those would be all physical disabilities. I think any of those is possible. I personally have a hard time visualizing Paul struggling to this degree over a limp. He talks much in his letters about fear and depression. It could have been an emotional thorn in the flesh that he battled with. I think it could have been a spiritual thorn, a weakness in his walk with the Lord. It could have been a physically oriented temptation and sin that Paul struggled with. This gives us the whole gamut of weakness, doesn't it? It's a gift that he isn't specific, because we can all identify with this. Some of us have disabilities that are very obvious, that are easily seen. Some of us have more hidden disabilities, but every one of us struggles with weakness. We all have these places where we battle either physically, emotionally, or spiritually. Paul's giving us a wonderful world view, a perspective on weakness here. He talks about a thorn in the flesh that comes from Satan, but obviously God is at the source of this battle. A thorn in the flesh was given me, a messenger of Satan. Both God and our great enemy are involved in this terrible battle for the Apostle Paul. Satan is trying to destroy Paul and his ministry, but God is the source of the battle and the process. We actually see our great, eternal, sovereign God using our terrible enemy as a tool in Paul's life. That is exactly true for every one of us. We come into contact with things that so deeply affect us in this world, physically, emotionally, and spiritually. Satan would try to destroy us with those things, but God is the source of the process. He's that way in Paul's life and, obviously, as He always works for our good, He's doing that with Paul here. Bill Mills Page 3 of 19
Verse 8. Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. Paul's response is a typically human response in the midst of this battle. He prays over and over and over again that God will remove this thorn in the flesh. Paul was a man of great faith. Even though he prayed consistently, continually, persistently, God did not answer Paul's prayer the way he prayed it. He said, My grace is sufficient for you. My grace is enough for you, Paul, even in this. Why? Because my power is made perfect in weakness. In this kingdom, where our lives are measured by how we respond to the most and how we worship strength and beauty and success on every level, we don't believe that for a minute. Even in our churches, we don't believe this, that God's power is perfected in weakness. We are convinced God's power is perfected in strength. God's glorified when we look good. He wants us to be successful in everyone's eyes. That's when He's lifted up. No. The opposite is true. God's power is perfected in weakness, Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. Paul's gaining God's perspective on weakness. Everyone, whether it's physical, emotional, or spiritual, every weakness is a point of contact with God's grace and His power. Then, he says something that, if I was a betting man, I'd wager not one person in this room has said one time in their life. For the sake of Christ, then, I'm content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities, because when I'm weak, then I'm strong. Paul came to the place where he was comfortable with his weaknesses. It was okay with him. He celebrated the weaknesses, comfortable, thanked God for them. When was the last time at the end of a day, you knelt down by your bed and began to number your weaknesses one by one and thank God for every one of them? Not if you're like me. We despise our weaknesses because our weaknesses are all those things that keep us from being who we really ought to be, from God using us the way we know He wants to use us. We hate our weaknesses. We try to drive them out of our lives. Paul not only became comfortable with his weaknesses. He actually celebrated his weaknesses. Bill Mills Page 4 of 19
You remember how, in David's beautiful song of worship in Psalm 103, he says, God, you know that we are dust. Do you realize that God knows what we're made of and He feels good about it? Most of us don't feel very good about the fact that we're made out of dust, because dust is very weak, it's inconsistent, it fails often, hardly ever performs well. We all wish we're made out of something other than dust. Just think what God could do in this world if we weren't made out of dust. God's never made anyone out of super dust. We're all made out of the same stuff called dust. Sometimes we think of those super saints who live on a different level than we do, that plane of consistent strength and power and victory. Maybe someday we'll get there. There are no super saints. Nobody lives on that level. We all struggle because God, by His grace and mercy, has built into every one of us weaknesses, these thorns in the flesh we battle with, to teach us who we are in relationship to Him, so that we run to Him for His power in the midst of that weakness, so that His glory will be seen. When we come to this text, we can hear the Apostle Paul saying, God, I'll never be the man that you've called me to be as long as these weaknesses remain. I'll never be the minister you're calling me to be as long as these weaknesses remain. For you to use me the way I know you want to use me, you've got to remove these weaknesses. We can hear God saying back to Paul, Paul, you've got it wrong. You'll only be the man that I've called you to be, you'll only be the minister I've called you to be, if the weaknesses remain. Some of us, it's obvious that we're weak. Others of us can still make believe we're strong, but we have hidden disabilities that God has allowed to be built into our lives so that we learn to trust in Him and throw ourselves on His mercy alone. Well, turn back a couple of pages if you're in II Corinthians there, to Chapter 7. This isn't the only time Paul talks about weakness. You might remember, even in his first letter, he said, When I came to you, I didn't come in strength and power. I came in weakness and fear. Look at what he talks about here, in Verse 5 of Chapter 7. For even when we came into Macedonia, our bodies had no rest, but we re afflicted at every turn, fighting without, fear within. But, God, who comforts the downcast, some of our translations say depression, comforted us by the coming of Titus. Here's the great Apostle Paul, struggling with the same stuff that we battle with every Bill Mills Page 5 of 19
day. He's working to the point of exhaustion. He's afflicted every time he turns around. There are conflicts on his ministry team, fears in his heart, he's battling with depression, and God comes and ministers to him by sending a brother. Those of us who struggle with these things know how important it is to be surrounded by people who bring us encouragement and lift up our hearts with hope and strengthen us in the times of the battles. Go back with me to Chapter 2, then. One of the great messages of II Corinthians is how could Paul be so honest about his weaknesses and so confident in the ministry at the same time? When I read this, I say, That's how I want to live. I want to serve the Lord like that. I don't want to make believe things about myself that aren't true. I'm very weak and yet, I want to live confidently and boldly as I serve the Lord as well. That's one of the great messages of this letter. Just to give you a little context, there was a lot of bad, a lot of struggle between the Apostle Paul and the Church of Corinth. He had written them a very difficult first letter. It was very confrontational. He confronted them with the divisions in the church. You remember, some of them were saying I am of Paul, others, I am of Peter, others, I am of Apollos. There's a group that said, We're more spiritual than all of you. We're of the Lord Jesus Himself. That's why unity is such a strong message in that I Corinthians letter. We keep hearing Paul saying, The Body, the Body, the Body. There must be no division in the Body. Unity was a passion in his heart because, of course, Jesus had prayed, By your unity, the world will know that I've been sent by the Father. He confronted them about allowing that man to live in sin with his stepmother. He confronted them about the spiritual gifts being out of order, the great confusion in the church. Very confrontational letter. They're questioning his Apostleship. In fact, they actually said to Paul, Next time you come or next time you write us a letter, why don't you have one of the real Apostles write a letter of recommendation for you saying, Paul genuinely is an Apostle, he does have authority in your church, you do need to listen to him. That's why in his second letter, he says, Do we need letters of recommendation to you or from you? You are our letter, written in our hearts, known and read by all men. Look at yourselves. Are you the same people that you were before God brought us to you? Of course not. That's all the evidence of my Apostleship that's needed. You'll remember in II Corinthians, he keeps defending himself, obviously Bill Mills Page 6 of 19
uncomfortable about it. He defends himself as they compare him with the super Apostles. There were two big issues in this second letter that he's dealing with, that they used against him. One is that he made a decision that they didn't feel came from the Lord. He talks about that in the first chapter. It's a wonderful text on decisionmaking, where Paul says the heart with which we come is always the issue. Our ability to get it right is never the issue. He believed God was leading him to go to Macedonia, sent them a letter saying, I'm going to come and visit you along the way. I'll teach you. You can help me on my journey. I'll go to Macedonia and on the way back, I'll stop again. We'll minister to each other again. God led him another way. He didn't go to Macedonia at that time, didn't stop and visit the church of Corinth. They're saying, How can he even be an Apostle? He can't hear God clearly. He can't make good decisions about God's will. Then, there's another issue that comes up in chapter 2. I wanted to look at the context, as it leads us to the main point I want to share with you. Verse 14 in II Corinthians 11 is actually one of our favorite verses for all of us who serve the Lord. But thanks be to God who, in Christ, always leads us in triumphal procession and, through us, spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere. But thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph Satan would love for us to believe that when we fail, God fails. He wants us to live in a performance-based relationship with God. He wants us to be convinced it's all about us. We better do it right. We better get it right. We need to be successful in sharing our faith, encouraging people, evangelizing, teaching, whatever our ministry is. We better get it right, because if we fail, God fails. Of course, we fail often because we're made out of dust. We have a great difficulty getting it right. Even when we fail, God never, ever fails. He always triumphs. His Son is the means by which He triumphs. He's leading us through a triumphal procession, through all of time and history. We are the weak ones. We fail often. God never, ever fails. When time merges with eternity again, everything that was in the heart of our God to be fulfilled in time will have been fulfilled. There will be no loose ends. God will be the only explanation for all of that. That is why we worship Him. If you're reading in your Bible, you'll notice that Verse 14 begins with the word, but. But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphs in Christ. Bill Mills Page 7 of 19
Obviously, he's referring to what I just said. Go back to Verse 12. When I came to Troas to preach the gospel of Christ, even though a door was open for me in the Lord, my spirit was not at rest because I did not find my brother Titus there, so I took leave of them and went on to Macedonia. But thanks be to God who, in Christ, always leads us in triumph. Paul went to Troas to preach the gospel. The doors were wide open for the gospel. People were coming to Christ. People were growing, but he said, I was actually looking for my brother Titus. When I didn't find him, I left that open door and went to look for him. Imagine there's a missionary that you've been supporting in a remote country for many years. As you've been praying with that missionary, you know that God has laid a certain area, a certain city, on their hearts. You've been praying with them. They wanted to go there and minister. They'd been there before, never any response, but God's written this certain city on their hearts. They have a passion to bring Christ there. Finally, they go. All of a sudden, people are coming out of the woodwork. They're being saved everywhere. There's a hunger to hear the Word of God. People are growing. Then they write and say, Actually, the reason I went to that city at that time is I was so lonely and I heard that a good friend of mine was going to be there. When I didn't find that friend, I left that open door for the ministry and went to look for my friend. In some of our churches, that missionary might get another letter back pretty quickly. Hey, if you're not willing to walk through the open doors that God's given you, if you're not willing to be a steward of our prayers and the money that we're investing in you, why don't you come home, and we'll send somebody else who will be a good steward and give themselves wholly to the ministry? How could Paul be honest with his need for fellowship with Titus in his aloneness, the need for encouragement and strength from a brother? How could he be honest with that and leave the open door in Troas to go look for his friend? Because of how he sees His God, how he sees ministry, how he sees himself. He can trust the people in Troas to a sovereign God who fulfills all of His will and be honest with his need for his brother and go look for him. Of course, this was fuel for the church of Corinth. Paul, you obviously can't hear God very well when you make life decisions. You actually put relationships over ministry, Paul? You're not the guy we want to invest in or we want to invest in our church. You don't measure up to the super Apostles. They used it again still. Bill Mills Page 8 of 19
That's why he says, But thanks be to God who, in Christ, always leads us in triumphal procession and, through us, spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere, for we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing. To the one, a fragrance from death to death, the other a fragrance of life to life, and who is sufficient for these things? I think Paul is visualizing the great armies of Rome as he's writing, whose armies would go out from Rome seeking to conquer the surrounding cities and nations. After the victorious battles, they would come back to Rome in a triumphal procession. First would come the most major officer and then the next highest officers. Then would come a whole group of people who were taken captive in the battles. Some of those would die in the arena. Others would serve as slaves in Rome. Then would come the ordinary enlisted soldiers. As that parade was making its way back to Rome, through the cities and villages and towns, often the people would run out to meet them and throw flower petals in the path of that parade. As the soldiers and the slaves walked over the flower petals, the aroma would be released. To those who were returning triumphant, that was the aroma of life. To those who would serve as slaves or die in the arena, that was the stench of death. This is a beautiful picture. God's called us to walk with Him in a triumphal procession through time and history. As we're walking in that procession, God's pouring His life through us to those around us. To those who are responding to the gospel, we are the aroma of life. To those that hate the name of Jesus, we are the stench of death. It is a beautiful picture of ministry. Ministry is the overflow of God's life through us, as we're walking with Him through time and history. Whatever our ministry is, whether it's serving or helping, the highest gifts, whether it's sharing the gospel as an evangelist or teaching or encouraging people, whatever our ministry is, counseling those in pain, God assigns us responsibilities as we're walking with Him. As we walk in those responsibilities, His life overflows and people respond in one of those two ways. Then he asks perhaps the biggest question in all of life and ministry, at the end of that section. Did you see it? And who is sufficient for this? Isn't that the question that hits us every day we're walking with the Lord, every day we're trying to serve Him? Whether our ministry is pushing a wheelchair, bringing meals to people in need, encouraging, counseling, teaching, preaching, whatever our Bill Mills Page 9 of 19
ministry is, that question hits us right in the face. Who's adequate for this? If we understand what Paul's teaching in chapter 12 about weakness, the battles with the thorn in the flesh, that God has built into us, every one of us, some places of weakness to teach us to trust in Him, in the ministry, we are over our head every day. There's not one of us who's adequate enough to do what God's called us to do. We are far too small to do the ministry that our God has entrusted to us. Paul asks that question. Who is sufficient for this? I hope you ask that question. I hope you know every day you're over your head. You're far too small for what God's entrusted to you. He answers that question in Chapter 3. Look at Verse 4. Such is the confidence that we have through Christ to our God. Now, put those two together. He understands the nature of ministry. God's pouring his life through Paul, as Paul's walking with him in ministry. Who's sufficient for that? Yet, now he talks about confidence. Such confidence that we have through Christ to our God. Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, but our sufficiency is from God, who made us competent to be ministers of a new covenant, not of the letter, but of the Spirit, for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. Paul's contrasting two covenants in this text. If you look at the surrounding context, you can see it clearly. In Verse 3, he says there's one covenant that's written in ink. The other is written by the Spirit of the living God. There's one covenant that's written on tablets of stone, but another covenant that's written on human hearts. Obviously, he's contrasting the old covenant of the Law with the new covenant of life in Christ Jesus. He goes on in Verses 7 and following one covenant brings death, the other brings life. One has glory that fades away. The other has glory that remains. One covenant condemns and the other declares us righteous. The heart of it is this contrast. In the old covenant, our resources came from ourselves. In the new covenant, our resources come from Christ. We were never adequate in ourselves to do what pleases God, to do ministry in a way that brings Him glory. We are inadequate. We are not sufficient to do that. In the new covenant, we throw ourselves on His mercy and He is powerful in us, even in our weakness, to bring those things that glorify Him alone. This is the lesson that we must learn in whatever way we are serving the Lord, and especially if you want to be a leader. We are not sufficient to do what God's called us to do. Bill Mills Page 10 of 19
Our hope is not making ourselves better or bigger in our eyes. Our hope to be fruitful in ministry is to see a bigger God and to throw ourselves on His mercy and His resources, for Him to do in us and through us what we can never do on our own. That's the answer to the question how can Paul be so honest about his weaknesses and so confident in the ministry at the same time? That's how I want to live. Many people in ministry are very reluctant to talk about their weaknesses. They want to focus on their strength. They want to look good in people's eyes. Paul never had any desire for that. He was free to say, I'm weak. I'm depressed. There are times I'm fearful. I'm not sufficient for what God's called me to do. There's no make believe world here, but we have a great God who in every way makes us sufficient through the resources and His Son, Christ in you, the hope of glory, as he said it to the Church at Colossae. That night, just before the Cross, when Jesus took that cup and He said, This is the new covenant in my blood, he's bringing in for all who would place their faith in him a completely new relationship with God the Father. It's a relationship of forgiveness and His righteousness covering them before our holy God. It's a relationship of life and intimacy and freedom and joy. It's a relationship of great power, where God Himself becomes adequate in us for all that He calls us to do. I want to look at a couple of verses with you in Chapter 4, because I was asked to focus a bit on leadership. First one in II Corinthians 4, Therefore, having this ministry by the mercy of God, we do not lose heart. Why are we here in the ministry? I don't know what your ministry is exactly like. Maybe you're a pastor, maybe a missionary, maybe a teacher in your church, maybe a helper, server, ministry of encouragement to those in pain, why do we have that ministry? Is it because of how well we've performed in the past and we've developed a pretty good track record? Is it because of our potential in the future where God has these great needs to be met and you caught His eye? Great personality, tremendous talents and abilities, great intellect, beautiful, handsome. God said, I could use that person. Is that why we're here? We're all here for one reason, aren't we? Because God has had mercy. His mercy is the only source of our call to serve Him, but it's also the source of His keeping grace, isn't it? This is a wonderful truth in In fact, two times in this one chapter, Paul repeats this phrase, Therefore, we do not lose heart. I'm so glad my God knows how vulnerable I am to losing heart, to Bill Mills Page 11 of 19
giving up, how weak I get. I'm so grateful that my God takes it as His responsibility to keep my heart. This is an amazing promise. We know that pastors and missionaries struggle often with burnout in the ministry. Every one of us struggles. We struggle in our marriage. We struggle in our family. We struggle in our day-to-day responsibilities with losing heart. To know that our God makes it His responsibility to keep us, tremendous promise and a great hope. In fact, a verse that I skipped over, we should have looked at in Chapter 3. Paul talking about his confidence, he says, Therefore, since we have such a hope as this, new covenant with all the resources coming through Christ, we are very bold, confident in the ministry. We can be confident of God's keeping grace as well. I'm glad my God knows what a wimp I am and He is the one who keeps me from giving up. Verse 2. We have renounced disgraceful, underhanded ways. We refuse to practice cunning or to tamper with God's Word, but by the open statement of the truth, we would commend ourselves to everyone's conscience in the sight of God. Paul talks about integrity as we serve God, handling his Word. We will never use the Scriptures to say what we want to say. We are God's tool to bring His Word faithfully, what He wants to say to His people. That's the work I'm involved in around the world. In our mission, we have about 35 teams of pastor trainers that we work with throughout Asia, the south Pacific, Latin America, Africa, and the Soviet Union, encouraging them in this way, not using the Bible to teach their message, but God using them as His servants to bring His message of hope and life and encouragement to His people. There's integrity in the heart of those who walk with God in ministry. Verse 3. And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled only to those who are perishing. In their case, the God of this world has blinded the minds of unbelievers to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ who is the image of God. Every time we're in ministry, we know that we're in the depths of spiritual warfare. Whether we're teaching or preaching or helping or encouraging or counseling, there's always a war going on, where God desires to open the eyes of those who are blind and lift the veil from people's hearts so they can respond. Our enemy wants to stop up ears and blind eyes and cover hearts so they cannot see, hear, or respond to the message of God and His Word. Verse 5. For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus' sake. Bill Mills Page 12 of 19
Have you ever gone to hear somebody speak and before long, you realize they're not talking about who God is and what God's doing? They're talking about who they are and what they're doing. Somewhere along the line, they have become their message. Paul says, We have not become our message. Christ is our message and we proclaim Him. The only way we will come to you is as God's servants, your servants, for Jesus' sake. There's integrity in the heart of a minister in bringing Christ. There's integrity and care in the way we come. That integrity and character is seen, and faithfulness handling the Word, in coming with the heart of a servant. How do we know a person is a servant? They come with the same attitudes, the same priorities, as the Lord Jesus. Later on in this letter, Paul says something that is a favorite verse of mine as I look at pastors. It's a verse that I don't know many prosperity preachers have ever come across in their Bible. Paul says, We don't want your money. We want you. We want you. That's character in the ministry. We're not here to talk about ourselves. It's not your resources we desire. We're here to lift up Christ and glorify Him. The only way that happens is we are faithful with His Word. We walk in integrity before our God. We bring character in the way we come to you. How is that seen? In a servant's heart. It's only seen in the heart of a servant. In the heart of a servant is, we come the way God comes. You might remember how David in Psalm 103, I quoted that earlier, that great song of worship, David says, God revealed his acts to Israel and his ways to Moses. Isn't that an intriguing Scripture? There's a knowledge of God that can be gained by seeing what He's done. Children of Israel had seen ten plagues, the power of God displayed. They'd seen the parting of the Red Sea. They'd seen the pillar of fire and the pillar of cloud. They knew the deeds of God, but Moses knew His ways. What's that talking about? It goes back to after the incident of the golden calf, where God was about to destroy His people, and Moses interceded, bringing the heart of God back to God for His people. God had said, Moses, these people are so hardhearted. They're so obstinate and stubborn, so disobedient. I'm not going with you any farther. Of course, He had made two promises to Moses in that call. That old man who was inadequate and not eloquent enough and not anything enough, and God had made two promises. Moses, I will be with you. This assumption that His presence changes everything. And the God, the eternal God, I am who I am will be Bill Mills Page 13 of 19
sufficient in you to do all that I desire. Moses asked for forgiveness. God says, I will go with you. I will give you rest. Then, there's the description of the tent of meeting, in which God would say more about it. It was that place where He would meet Moses and they would talk with one another as friend-to-friend, face-to-face. It was coming out of that tent that Moses said, Show me your ways, so that I may know you. Then, he said, Let me see your face, God. Let me see your face. God says, Moses, no one can see my face and live. But what humility in the heart of our God. Same humility that we were looking at in the session in Philippians 2, as Kathy was leading us. The humility of our God. There's a hollow place here in the rock, Moses. I'll put you there and cover you with my hand and I'll pass by in front of you. After I pass by, I'll remove my hand and you'll see my glory as I pass by. What was it that God showed to Moses on the side of that mountain that day? First of all, He proclaimed His eternal name and then He revealed the beauty of His compassionate heart. I'll have mercy on whom I have mercy. I will show compassion to whom I will show compassion. That was an answer to Moses' prayer, Let me see your face. God's face is seen in His ways and His ways reveal His heart. You do know that when people come for any time of ministry, their real need is not a new insight from the Bible that they've never discovered, a new nugget that they've never seen or found. They need to meet this God, this God who is filled with mercy and compassion, who brings them encouragement and healing and life. It's our responsibility to take them by our hand and bring them into the presence of this God, where they can be filled with hope and life and encouragement again. Why do I talk about God's ways in relationship to Paul's teaching about the heart of a servant? If we want God to use us, we need to not only be men and women of integrity and character, we must bring the ways of God to people so that they can be healed. We need to understand God's ways. It's one thing to believe the same things that God believes. It's something completely different to do things the way God does them. How do we know whether a person is doing things the same way God does? When we come with the heart of a servant. That's how. When we walk in integrity, we live with character and we bring the heart of a servant. You remember how the Lord Jesus said it, Even the Son of Man did not come to Bill Mills Page 14 of 19
be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many. That's the ways of God, serving, helping, giving, taking the lowest place. I love His definition of the servant. You are living in this place. How does Jesus describe a servant? Listen to it again. Even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many. A servant is a life-giver. That's a servant. A servant is a lifegiver. There are two kinds of people in this world. There are those who, in their emptiness, drain life from the people around them in order to build themselves up. In that kind of world, God's raising up a new kind of people, those who draw their life from Him and, out of that fullness, have a resource of life to pour out to those around them, in order to build them up. Paul is filled up as he walks with the Lord Jesus, as he shares the joy and life and intimacy with his God. He is filled up. He has a resource to pour out to the people around him. That's why he says, I don't want your money. I'm already full. I want you. I want your hearts. That's what a servant looks like. Those are the ways of God as we walk in ministry. If God would use us, we need to have His character, His heart. We need to be filled up with who He is as we throw our confidence on Him and not on ourselves. Then, He can make us a giver of life, to build up the people around us. Even though we are not sufficient in ourselves to claim anything is coming from us, our God makes us sufficient in every way for all that He gives us to do. We can be honest about being weak and small. Most of us are not very intelligent. We're not very strong. We're not very beautiful. We're not very eloquent. Most of us aren't really very spiritual. We're ordinary people made out of dust, but God has, in His mercy, called us to serve Him and to walk with Him in ministry. He will glorify Himself, even in our weaknesses, as we throw ourselves on His mercy and become sufficient in every way for all that He gives us to do. I mentioned I wanted to have some time to talk about this, maybe have a question about one of the Scriptures that I mentioned, or something I said along the way. Maybe there's something from your own heart you'd like to share. While you're thinking of that, I thought I'd share this with you. I don't know if you were aware that, at one time, the disciples of the Lord Jesus were evaluated by the Jordan Management Consultants. I actually have a copy of their report this morning. This is written to Jesus, son of Joseph, Woodcrafter's Carpenter Shop, Nazareth Bill Mills Page 15 of 19
35922, from Jordan Management Consultants, Jerusalem 26544. Thank you for submitting the resumes of the 12 men you've picked for management positions in your new organization. All of them have now taken our battery of tests. We've not only run the results through our computer, but also arranged personal interviews for each of them with our psychologist and vocational aptitude consultant. It is the staff opinion that most of your nominees are lacking in background, education, and vocational aptitude for the type of enterprise you're undertaking. Simon Peter is emotionally unstable and given to fits of temper. Andrew has no qualities of leadership. The two brothers, James and John, sons of Zebedee, placed personal interest above company loyalty. Thomas demonstrates a questioning attitude that would tend to undermine morale. We feel it is our duty to tell you that Matthew has been blacklisted by the Greater Jerusalem Better Business Bureau. James, the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddeus definitely have radical leanings and they both registered a high score on the manic depressive scale. One of the candidates, however, shows great potential. He is a man of ability and resourcefulness, meets people well, has a keen business mind, and has contacts in high places. He is highly motivated, ambitious, and responsible. We recommend Judas Iscariot as your controller and right-hand man. All the other profiles are selfexplanatory. We wish you every success in your new venture. We have a God who not only delights in calling the weak to ministries that will last forever, He delights in displaying His power in that weakness, and using men and women that often are rejected in this world. He said, I will build my church. The gates of hell will not prevail against it. Our God did say through the prophet Habakkuk, The Earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as waters cover the sea. Remember how Paul said we're a spectacle to the angels? Don't you think the angels look at God and then they look at you, and they say, You're going to do that with this? You're going to build your eternal kingdom with this? I'm going to stop there and see if you have a question or a comment, a thought you'd like to add, something you'd like to share from your heart, and then we'll close in prayer. Any comments, thoughts, or questions? Audience 1: [Inaudible.] Bill Mills Page 16 of 19
Bill: The question is about Paul praying three times that God would deliver him from his disability. How many times should a person pray who has a disability before accepting it or giving up? I think a person should pray as often as they want to pray. Jesus teaches us persistence in prayer is very, very important. Think for a moment of a mother with a sick child. They've been to the doctor, fever's high, given the medication, child does get any... Mother's heart is just caught up with what's going on with her child. She's just consumed with fear over what's going to happen here. How many times does she need to pray? She doesn't need to pray even one time about what's going on. He already knows. She doesn't need to wear Him down with her prayers to convince Him to do what she'd like to do. Remember the story of the bothered neighbor? The guy needed bread and had a guest at midnight, goes to his neighbor. I'm already in bed. The door's locked. Don't bother me. But he keeps knocking and knocking and knocking and knocking. Finally, the neighbor gives in and gives him the bread he needs. Is Jesus teaching us that our God's like that? No. Parables like those are built around contrasts, not comparisons. That's when Jesus says, You who are evil know how to give gifts to your children. How much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him? The point isn't God is like that and needs to be worn down until He gives in out of weariness. He'd rather not get out of bed and answer our prayers, but if we keep knocking and knocking and knocking and knocking, maybe we can convince Him to answer. No, no. Our God desires to answer our prayers. The mother with the sick child, how many times should she pray? She should pray every time she desires. Her God is there with her. Every time she comes to Him, it's His presence that sustains her. God keeps her heart in the midst of the battle. He desires to bring healing to her child, and He will do that. She just keeps praying. I think the point in prayer is that we are the ones who are changed in God's keeping grace. A person with a disability should just pray as often as they would like. There comes a time, like with Joni, she knew that God was going to keep her in this condition rather than just heal her physically in order to develop this glorious ministry in her heart and life. The summary statement to that, that's in Luke 11, If you who are evil know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father give His Spirit? We need to know that God wants to be the answer to our prayers. Bill Mills Page 17 of 19
We tend to pray small prayers. Now, a person with a disability, that's a huge thing in their life. Our God does heal in His sovereign timing and in His way. Of course, we know God always heals His people, sometimes in a moment, sometimes in a process, always in the Resurrection. We can pray for healing, but our God desires to give Himself to us. One of our battles, when we attend a typical North American evangelical Church prayer meeting, or meetings in broader circles, often our prayers just have to do with us. There are very real, apparent, present needs and we don't hear many times God, give yourself to me. Give me your Spirit. Give me your Spirit's presence, your Spirit's power, your Spirit's gifts as I'm in this situation. I think we should keep asking for God Himself. I think we should be free to bring any prayer about any disability to God and trust His sovereign process. A prayer is just expressing our heart to our Father, so whatever is in our heart, just bring it. Trust that, as Jesus prayed in the Garden, I'd like the cup removed, but your will be done. Yes, sir? Audience 2: Bill: [Inaudible.] Beautifully said. To live in that place of contentment, this settled confidence with God and His provisions. Unless we're content, we're never going to be able to serve Him. That's a beautiful, beautiful teaching. Thank you. Thank you. There's that hope, I can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me. Paul could live in times of abundance, times of need, times of strength, times of weakness, because God is sufficient all the time, in every way. Thank you. Thank you. Let's just close in prayer. Father, thank you for your greatness and your glory, how, in your great power, you fulfill all of your will. Thank you, by your mercy, including us in that process. Father, as our brother just encouraged us, would you enable us to live within this place of peace and contentment with you, and with the gifts of your hand, and the life circumstances that you designed for your glory, and the knowledge that you will be sufficient every step of the way to fulfill all of your will in us, as we trust and hope in you. Thank you, in Jesus' name. Amen. Bill Mills Page 18 of 19
Thanks for joining me this hour. God bless you the rest of our time. Joni: Hi, I'm Joni Eareckson Tada. Thank you for listening to this audio resource from the Global Access Association, sponsored by Joni and Friends. To find more disability resources and to connect with others involved in disability ministry around the globe, go to www.gaa.joniandfriends.org and sign up for a free membership today. Bill Mills Page 19 of 19