You can listen to this post on Refresh Her Podcast.
Perhaps you recall that my husband and I have launched a new ministry – D&D Ministries, where we desire to encourage and strengthen ministry couples. It is out of that burden that I share this post today. These truths certainly apply to all who are going through any kind of hurts, but I’m directing my application to ministry wives today. If you serve in ministry, I pray that this post will benefit you! If you’re not a ministry wife, would you read it, and then pass it along to someone you know that would be encouraged by it? Thank you!
One summer afternoon as a ten year-old girl, I happily found myself swimming in a pool. I had learned a new trick – turning summersaults underwater. I began practicing my new skill, going over and over again. After a few rounds, I needed air, but suddenly, I was disoriented. I had no idea which way was up. My mind raced to the fear that I would drown because I couldn’t find the water’s surface. Finally I saw sunlight streaming overhead and I quickly righted myself and swam to the surface. Air! My lungs gasped for it and rejoiced to find it!
The feeling of drowning is certainly unpleasant! But did you know there’s more than one way to drown? The meaning of the word is To cover, or inundate, to overwhelm. In ministry life, it can be easy to feel the sense of drowning when painful things touch our lives. Listen to what some pastor’s wives said when they were asked what they wish they had known when they first started out in ministry:
- “I wish someone would have told me to just be myself!” (She had fallen into the trap of trying to make everyone happy.)
- “I wish someone would have prepared me for the criticism of me and my husband.”
- “I wish someone would have told me that others were watching us so closely.”
- “I wish someone would have told me there are some really mean people in the church.”
The first phase of drowning is the surprise factor. The swimmer is above water, but now they are struggling to keep themselves above the water to get a breath. I do remember that surprise that not all the people in the church were kind and loving. I thought the enemy would only come from without the body. That was not so. When a man who we had loved turned on my husband and spread lies about us, I was shocked. I did indeed feel like I was drowning in that hurt. Now I had a decision to make – would I remain gasping for air, or would I learn and grow from this experience? Would I forgive and love him, spite what he had done? How was I to deal with this in a biblical fashion? I looked to God’s Word and the Lord taught me from Psalm 63 what my response must be.
David writes – O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee: my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is. David is running from his own son whom he loved! How did he survive such a painful experience? David is in a wilderness. Wild animals were nipping at his heels.
David is thirsty and parched. This thirst causes David to cry out, and he does so early. This can refer to early in the day. We need to obey the compelling desire to get up and spend time with God. He has allowed it. Best for me is anything that makes me draw closer to the Lord.
A drowning victim becomes vertical instead of horizontal. When we are drowning in the hurts of ministry, we become horizontal instead of vertical. In other words, we’re looking at the problem instead of our God. To become vertical is to look to the Lord for our comfort and wisdom. We talk to Him instead of others. We are looking upward; we are vertical.
The word early can also refer to immediateness. It must happen right now. Are we longing for God at this very moment? A weary place and a weary heart make the presence of God so desirable. We know we need the Lord!!
We must be thirsty to see God at work. We desire Him to turn this desert into an oasis. Ask the Lord to use your testimony during this desert time to touch other people. When others are looking at your response, do they see your trust in your God Who satisfies your thirsty soul?
God will always satisfy when we come to Him. If you’re in a wilderness, and you feel like you’re drowning, run to Psalm 63 and ask God to teach you what He wants you to learn during this storm. Seek Him early in the day and early in the trial. He is there to rescue you and to satisfy you.
This is part 1 of this topic, so be watching next week for the second part in this series.
RefreshHer 