Is God stirring something in you, perhaps drawing you into ministry work? In today’s podcast, Catherine shares four aspects of God’s protection that can help you discern and fulfill this calling, while living a life impacted by disabilities.
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Transcript:
In a Key Ministry project we’re calling “Finding God’s Ministry Purpose for Your Life,” we’re focusing on 7 “P” words that have been demonstrated in the lives of the ministry leaders we work with. We began this project in the summer of 2022 by interviewing about 25 disability ministry leaders. As different as each of these people are from one another, their personal stories have some remarkable consistencies. One of those consistencies that we’re focusing on today is summed up by the word “Protection.” God protects people who serve Him, either now or in the future, in a variety of ways.
1. Physical protection. Protection by God can mean obvious things, like near-miss car accidents, the ones when a crash could have easily happened, but didn’t. Physical protection might mean other kinds of near-misses, like delays that mean you avoid disaster. Many years ago, the mid-Atlantic east coast where I live was blanketed by an ice storm. Our electricity was out for several frigid days, so we stayed with friends who had power. One night, we were walking next door to have dinner with their neighbors, and started to walk across the icy yard. We decided it would be safer to walk a longer route on the street, even though that was icy, too. Only a few minutes into our walk, a huge tree branch crashed to the ground, directly in the path we would have taken across the yard. Every one of our group recognized that we narrowly missed severe injury or even death because of choosing the longer route.
2. Disappointments and prayers answered no. God’s protection isn’t just physical, it comes in other forms—like prayers answered ‘no,’ and other disappointments. Many Christ-followers like yours truly were formerly prodigals who walked away from His path and plans. In His wisdom and sovereignty, He allowed me and many like me to make our own choices, but He never let us out of His sight. Like a good parent, He let me and maybe you experience disappointments and the consequences of your choices. Even now, many years later, I frequently thank Him for the prayers answered no that were incredibly painful when they were experienced—but those prayers answered no have been God’s means of paving the way for the best future for me, and for His kingdom glory. I suspect the same may be true for you, too.
When asked about protection, Julie Meekins noted, “I have been protected from believing the lies of the enemy.” She went on to speak about God protecting her from her difficult early years, guiding her to marry a godly man, which led to a strong spiritual foundation for their family. So when their youngest child was born with significant special needs, Julie already knew He was near. What she didn’t know then was how God had already been laying the groundwork for a future ministry, within previous years of protection. His protection was for Julie and her family, but also for a bigger ministry purpose.
3. A ministry calling as a means of His protection. The challenges of ministry life may not appear protective, but just being aware that your life has purpose and importance in His kingdom should drive anyone sensing His call to a more righteous standard of living.
Here’s what I mean: Everyone has a phone now; how easy is it to get into bad online habits, or connect with people who should stay in your past? A ministry calling can help you resist temptations, and therefore protect your mind and heart.
Ministry work should help you not only answer His call, but also help you prioritize your family as your first and most important ministry. A calling from God to serve others often gives your children an excellent example to follow, which can protect them from harmful choices as they grow. A ministry focused life may help protect you and your children from parentification or overburdening of your children, because of your desire to please God in all things, including your parenting practices.
Awareness of His call helps finely tune your spiritual antenna, to be sensitive to the Holy Spirit’s leading, for yourself and for each of your family members. We can’t know what we can’t know. But spiritual discernment from the Holy Spirit will often tell us that something is wrong, something we can’t quite put our finger on. For many years, our family experienced rejection within some relationships that were important to us. At the same time, I also had the sense that these individuals were not spiritually healthy.
If this is where you are, please hear me: there is God’s protection in man’s rejection. More than once, He has let me to see that the protection we experienced within that rejection was real and significant. When you see this kind of protection from Him, it greatly helps with healing the emotional pain.
My final point about ministry life is that it is worked out in community. When you offer a consistent witness of the call God has for you, other people notice. In times of your personal need, tangible, practical support will be provided. Patricia Parker commented that she sees God’s protection by the way He takes care of her needs. She noted, “God sends the best people!” From caregivers for her disabled son to many others who support her, Patricia clearly sees God’s protective hand as she serves her family and others in ministry.
4. Proper use of anger is a means of His protection. Anger is associated with pain, disappointment or thwarted desire; everyone experiences anger. Even Jesus experienced anger, and He demonstrated the proper use of anger.
You may not think that anger and protection go together. So here’s a true story to make this point: have you ever been in an airport when your flight was unexpectedly canceled? This happened to me recently. Hordes of angry people swarmed the gate agents, demanding refunds, slinging around profanity, and expressing themselves with no noticeable self-control.
Scripture states that anger is to be used as a weapon of justice—in the way God means justice. Anger is not to be used merely to destroy, but primarily as a weapon for restoration, for making things right, or for working together something for good.
When you and I experience anger, particularly for a wrong that was done to us or someone we love, using anger as a weapon of justice means seeking the Lord and discerning what is the right action for the right time. Scripture admonishes Christ-followers to leave room for the Lord’s vengeance, not to seek revenge ourselves.
Sometimes God tells us to wait, sometimes God tells us to be silent, sometimes God tells us to be to speak, sometimes God tells us to let our angry words come forth, just like Jesus did; He Himself used His anger in various ways, as examples for us to follow. His anger is always about setting chaos and what’s wrong back into God’s order and plan. Jesus consistently used His anger as a weapon to set things right.
Back to my wonderful airport experience: the anger that was displayed by so many people did not bring order back into chaos, the anger caused more disorder. The anger was used as a weapon of vengeance on airline employees who had nothing to do with the decision to cancel the flight. And sadly, for most of the obviously angry travelers, I suspect the flight cancelation was merely an inconvenience. For people paying attention to that scene, there was a clear distinction between the people who were complaining, and people who were disappointed but waiting patiently.
In the heat of intense moments of frustration or pain, a ministry focus can protect you from the negative use of anger, because you have chosen to put God in the seat of responsibility for the path of your life, knowing that He will Romans 8:28 everything, good or bad. Neither you nor I nor any of the ministry leaders that I spoke with for this project will be able to resolve every challenge that comes our way, but in many instances of anger and pain, God will show Himself strong, and bigger than you think He is. Many times, we just have to wait, and stand still, to see Him orchestrate what only He can do. In my airport experience, I ended up having quite a powerful encounter with another believer, which could only have been orchestrated by God. If I had just chosen to be angry that day, I would have completely missed God’s greater purpose for that moment.
God never leaves anything valuable unprotected, or out of His redemptive grasp—including you and your life. As you ponder the points made in this podcast, I’ll leave you with three questions to answer. I encourage you to spend some time praying and seeking Him as you discern the answers:
1 - Name one or two experiences you’ve had where you know God has protected you.
2 - How did the protection from Him in those experiences change your relationship with Him?
3 - How might His protection over you pave the way for a ministry purpose?
