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Trust the Slow Work of God

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By Pastor Ryan White

I find myself regularly returning to a particular prayer in this season. It comes from the pen of the 20th-century French Jesuit priest Pierre Teilhard de Chardin. Allow me to quote it in full:

Above all, trust in the slow work of God.

We are quite naturally impatient in everything to reach the end without delay.

We should like to skip the intermediate stages.

We are impatient of being on the way to something unknown, something new.

And yet it is the law of all progress

that it is made by passing through some stages of instability—

and that it may take a very long time.

And so I think it is with you;

your ideas mature gradually—let them grow,

let them shape themselves, without undue haste.

Don’t try to force them on,

as though you could be today what time

(that is to say, grace and circumstances acting on your own good will)

will make of you tomorrow.

Only God could say what this new spirit

gradually forming within you will be.

Give our Lord the benefit of believing

that his hand is leading you,

and accept the anxiety of feeling yourself

in suspense and incomplete.

—Excerpted from Michael Harter’s Hearts on Fire: Praying with the Jesuits (2005)

This is such a paradox. Jesus’s sacrificial death on the cross and His victory made manifest by the empty tomb were definitive and decisive. Truly, there and then Christ broke the power of evil, sin, and death and now is making all things new, even us. Yet this journey into newness is long. The process of sanctification is a slow and gradual, peppered with moments of breakthrough. It is almost as if Jesus is breathing His resurrection life into our mortal flesh one organ system at a time, chiseling us stroke after deliberate stroke into the image of the Son.

That means we will spend the vast majority of this life of faith as a humble work in progress. Most of our days will involve trekking uphill or slogging through the mud, not standing at the base of the waterfall and marveling at the vista. How are you doing with “the anxiety of feeling yourself in suspense and incomplete”?

I am so encouraged that when the Lord invites us into adventure, he promises, “My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest” (Exodus 33:14). He is not speaking merely of temporary respites for refreshment along the way, but a deep and enduring centeredness and well-being that is ours through Jesus’s abiding presence. Even in the midst of exertion and uncertainty, we can rest in our belovedness. We can experience confidence because it will never be Christ who withdraws from us. He is ever faithful and will never leave us or forsake us.

As you wrestle with impatience, as you grow disappointed with your current progress, and you despair over the lack of transformation and victory, hear the words of the Apostle Paul and take heart:

“If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.” (Colossians 3:1-4)

Your life is hidden in Christ in God. Much of the growth that is taking place—the maturing of your character, the softening of your heart, the transformation of your will and desires—is taking place out of sight, even for you. Your responsibility is simply to set your sights on Jesus daily and press into journeying with Him. Trust in the slow work of God in your life—and in the lives of others. He will carry to completion that good work He has begun in us. You focus on embracing today’s leg of the trail and tackling it with your Savior who loves you.

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Becoming a Fruitful Disciple

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By Beth White

Just before Jesus went meekly to his death, He gave His loved ones this insight: “By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples” (John 15:8).

We tend to struggle with these words. We think, “Ok, fruit is what He wants, so fruit is what I had better get.” But I believe that the Lord is far less concerned with the fruit we bear than with the roots of our tree and what we allow to nourish and water them.

Fruit is the product of something that starts much deeper, something unseen. That’s why bearing fruit proves that we are His disciples; the fruit cannot be borne unless we are connected to the True Vine (John 15:5).

When you and I read Galatians 5:22-23, we may feel convicted that the fruit of the Spirit is not flourishing abundantly in our lives. We may realize that we’re not very patient, for example, so we begin to pray for patience. While that is a good place to start, the fact is that we don’t gain patience by praying for patience. We grow patient by seeking the Lord first and trusting Him to lead us in the way we should go. The same may be said for all of the fruits of the Spirit. We allow the Lord to refine, or prune, our hearts, and the fruit begins to grow.

If we’re not bearing fruit, we don’t need to get fruit. We need to water our roots! Jeremiah 17:7-8 says, “Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose trust is the Lord. He is like a tree planted by water, that sends out its roots by the stream, and does not fear when heat comes, for its leaves remain green, and is not anxious in the year of drought, for it does not cease to bear fruit.”

How do we tap our roots in to that source of everlasting water? Begin with prayer. It is the Lord who does the work; we must ask Him to do it in us. To read our Bibles daily is also essential, because through the Word of God we know God. Then, as we hear His words and do them, abiding in Him, we are conformed more and more to His image—we bear fruit.

It’s spelled out for us in 2 Peter 1:5-8: “Make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Take Him at his Word. There is much to be sacrificed if we are to live in this way, as His disciples, but He has promised that we will bear fruit.

Because our Father is patient, we should be too. Our job is simple obedience; it is His to determine the variety of fruit and its growth. We must say, “Look, Lord! My heart is a fertile garden with soft soil. I will water it with your words of life; grow in it what you will.”

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Where to Begin

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By Lars Passic

This Sunday, Interim Pastor Steve McCoy preached on “how to pray up a storm.” He left us with three reminders for when we pray:

  • Pray earnestly
    • With your heart
    • “Lord, this is what I ask you to do.”
  • Pray expectantly
    • “Lord, I believe you’re going to answer.”
  • Pray effectively
    • According to God’s will

Earlier this week, I told someone how we have been searching for a pastor during the entirety of the COVID-19 pandemic, and these two realities have put an immense pressure on the people of Elim. Pastor Steve’s sermon reminds us of how important it is to pray earnestly, with our heart.

Right now, my heart is tired, confused, broken, and overwhelmed. There is so much anger, need, and hurt in the world. I don’t even know where to begin.

I am encouraged by Romans 8:26-27:

26 Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. 27 And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.

God, you know the pain that we have gone through in the last few years. You know our heartbreak more than anyone. God, in Your Word you tell us that You have given us Your Spirit who knows what we need to pray for and prays for us. Please hear our prayer when we do not know where to begin. Please meet us where we are right now, heal our hearts, and forgive us for hurting each other. Thank you so much for being with us.

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A Search Team of One

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by Interim Pastor Steve McCoy

One of my special delights is to train pastoral search teams. As they embark on this journey, I share how searching for a ministry leader is a faith-filled, time-tested adventure.

As they prepare for the task, I take them to the classic story where Abraham sent his trusted servant, Eliezer, to search for a wife for his son, Isaac (Genesis 24).

This is what I call a “search team of one”!

Before launching out, Abraham gave Eliezer some search parameters: she had to be a distant relative, not a Canaanite (Genesis 24:3–4).

Our elders gave a number of parameters to the Pastoral Search Team to guide their search.

Oh yes, when Eliezer found the right prospect, she had to be willing to relocate: “If the woman is unwilling to come back with you, then you will be released from this oath of mine” (Genesis 24:8a).

This is a critical question for our search team as they interview prospective pastors: Are they willing to relocate to the Pacific Northwest?

Then when the “perfect” spouse was found she was given gifts—jewelry made of gold and silver, as well as clothing (Genesis 24:10a, 22b, 47b, 53).

When we host on-site visits with prospective pastor, we give gifts—transportation, lodging, meals, hospitality, honorarium, and goodbye gifts. He is our guest. We attempt to curry favor in a time-honored fashion.

Then lastly, and most importantly, the whole process was bathed in prayer. “Then he [Eliezer] prayed, ‘O Lord, God of my master Abraham, give me success today, and show kindness to my master Abraham’” (Genesis 24:12). The nation of Israel is a result of that answered prayer.

May God hear the prayers of Elim and answer with similar success!

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We Need Each Other

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By Larry Short

“May the Lord show mercy to the household of Onesiphorus, because he often refreshed me and was not ashamed of my chains. On the contrary, when he was in Rome, he searched hard for me until he found me. May the Lord grant that he will find mercy from the Lord on that day! You know very well in how many ways he helped me in Ephesus.” (2 Timothy 1:16-18)

Last week Brian Waple spoke of how important prayerful dependence on the Lord is when things don’t go quite as we hope and expect. This was a timely word for Darlene and me, as we were traveling 2,500 miles east in our RV and had just experienced some serious technical challenges.

First came some troubling computer errors. We were zipping down the highway doing 80 in that big rig (the speed limit in South Dakota), passing a Mack truck doing 75 or so, when we hit a major wind gust. The engine suddenly cut out and all sorts of audio and visual alarms began to ring and flash. With traffic zipping angrily around us, we were finally able to pull to the shoulder. To make a long story short, one tire was quickly losing air, and both front tires were wearing unevenly. We replaced them in Indianapolis and got back on the road.

We were almost into Pennsylvania when the next big challenge arrived. Our RV is diesel, and all throughout the nation I’d been looking for those green-handled diesel pumps when I filled up. I pulled into a BP which said it had diesel for $2.25/gallon. I found a green-handled pump with that price on it and began filling up.

Suddenly I realized the pump I was pumping out of wasn’t diesel—it was regular fuel! I stopped immediately, but not until four gallons of regular fuel had been placed into my diesel tank.

Chagrined and embarrassed, Darlene and I discussed and prayed about what we should do. It was a weekend and finding a diesel mechanic in that small town would be next to impossible.

“Why don’t you call Brian Holthe?” she said.

Great idea! Brian used to attend Elim, and I have grown to trust him implicitly. Brian’s shop, Genesis Automotive, had been providing good service to our RV for several years. But the shop was closed, and I did not have Brian’s cell phone number.

My wife is always full of good ideas in challenges such as this. “Try Martin,” she said. “He will know how to get a hold of Brian.”

I called Martin, praying he would pick up—and he did. He provided Brian’s number and encouraged me NOT to start the engine. (He said he had once been in the reverse situation—accidentally putting diesel into his regular-fuel motorcycle engine—and Brian had been invaluable. I was encouraged, and I also didn’t feel as dumb as I had a few minutes earlier!)

Brian answered his mobile, and Martin was right, he was very helpful and gave me great advice. He provided the name of a diesel additive that would help, and suggested I fill the tank with as much diesel as possible to minimize the ratio of regular to diesel fuel in the tank. With luck, watching my engine temperature and listening carefully for any problems, he thought I’d probably be okay. (He said he would normally advise the tank be emptied on the spot, but that wasn’t possible in our situation.)

His advice was spot on. I hiked a mile to an auto parts shop that sold me the additive, then I added it and topped the tank with diesel. We then drove carefully the three hours to our daughter’s home in Pennsylvania, with no further problems.

Prayer is very important under such difficult circumstances. But we also found great help in fellow brothers in Christ who were willing to drop what they were doing to help us through a tight spot. I’m not sure what I would have done without them.

It strikes me that even the Apostle Paul leaned heavily on his brothers and sisters in Christ as he conducted his difficult ministry. In stressful times like these, it is more important than ever before to have brothers and sisters in Christ we trust to help us when we are in trouble.

And it’s also critically important that we ourselves be available to help others who need us!

Are you seeking to connect with and depend on other brothers and sisters in Christ, here at Elim and elsewhere, to be there when you need them to? As Brian suggested last week, take your challenges first to the Lord, but then listen carefully as He directs you toward people who can help you run the race with confidence and strength.

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The Best Laid Plans . . .

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by Brian Waple

My family went back to Virginia this past weekend for my dad’s memorial service. We had been planning the service for friends and family for a while, as well as making preparations for a family graveside service. My dad was not a churchgoer, but he had been a long-time member of the local American Legion. So, the family thought this would be a suitable venue for the event. I made several calls and sent a number of emails to make sure the ballroom was available and set up. In addition, I made arrangements to put my dad’s date of death on a pre-existing headstone in the family plot at the local cemetery.

Both services were scheduled for Saturday. We decided to go by the Legion and cemetery on Friday morning to ensure everything was ready. We had no idea what would be waiting for us.

Arriving at the Legion, we found out it was closed for the next seven days because of a positive COVID test on one of the employees. My single point of contact at the Legion could not be reached. When we got to the cemetery, we found that my dad’s date of death had been placed under my mom’s name (she was with us … awkward). Between panicked calls to the headstone company (they were very distraught) and continued calls to my Legion contact (did I tell you he couldn’t be reached?), we were looking at the beginning of a train wreck and had no idea what we were going to do. So, we prayed.

In Genesis 32, we read of Jacob receiving news that his older brother Esau was coming to meet him with an army of 400 men. Remembering that little deception he and his mother had cooked up to steal his brother’s birthright, Jacob was certain Esau was coming to slaughter him and his family (he could see the wheels coming off the rails). Other than reorganizing his family and possessions, he had no clear assurance of how this was going to turn out. So, he prayed:

And Jacob said, “O God of my father Abraham and God of my father Isaac, O Lord who said to me, ‘Return to your country and to your kindred, that I may do you good,’ I am not worthy of the least of all the deeds of steadfast love and all the faithfulness that you have shown to your servant, for with only my staff I crossed this Jordan, and now I have become two camps. Please deliver me from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau, for I fear him, that he may come and attack me, the mothers with the children. But you said, ‘I will surely do you good, and make your offspring as the sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered for multitude.’” (Genesis 32:9–12, ESV)

After spending the night wrestling with God (and being blessed by God), in Genesis 33 Jacob meets Esau: “He himself went on before them, bowing himself to the ground seven times, until he came near to his brother. But Esau ran to meet him and embraced him and fell on his neck and kissed him, and they wept” (Genesis 33:3–4, ESV). The encounter that had so terrified Jacob (now Israel) had instead become a blessing.

As we were preparing my dad’s service, I spent time in prayer, seeking God’s counsel. I wanted to make sure that what I was doing was honoring to Dad, as well as following God’s leading in the direction He wanted me to go. What was happening now was not making sense. I began to question our plan, thinking, “Is this because we weren’t meeting in a church?” But then, the majority of people coming would not feel comfortable in a church, and I wanted them to feel at ease. I wanted to honor God, but I also wanted to honor my dad. I realize that my situation was much smaller in magnitude than Jacob’s, but I had my own time of wrestling with what I needed to do. Slowly, I began to sense that my Father was telling me, “It’s going to be okay . . . stick with the plan.” And, we did.

So, how was the memorial service? It was a real blessing. We sang songs and told stories and remembered and laughed and cried—my Dad would have loved it! Only one employee who worked in the Legion bar tested positive (the bar, which was the only area closed, is on a separate floor from the ballroom we were meeting in). Out of caution, we called everyone we had invited to let them know the circumstances…a few opted not to come. And the headstone company assured me they would remove the headstone (after the graveside service) and would be able to correct the engraving. I learned (once again) that giving this all to God in prayer was all I could do.

Prayer. It is the foundation of our faith and our hope. When we pray, we enter into genuine relationship with our God and Father who sees all and knows all. We trust that although we can’t always see what’s coming, He can. God loves us. And when it seems like we are at our wit’s end and nothing seems to make sense, we can pray and know that our God hears us.

What do you need to pray for right now?

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