Diary of a Pastor's Wife #1
- Shauna Neville
- Dec 1, 2021
- 5 min read
Updated: Dec 1, 2021
A few years ago, my brother in law wanted to start a hard-core music outreach at the church. He was a part of that music scene and life when he had a dramatic encounter with God that changed his life forever. God had saved him from a super damaging and life threatening path. He saw the need. He had the know how to reach these young kids and young adults. We had the venue, the money, and the people with the same heart to make it happen. And so it began…
These outreach concerts were totally different than anything the church world in our circles had seen before. Talk about upsetting the "Pharisees" and religious people of the day… wow. We did these concerts on Saturday nights. No, they weren’t Christian music bands… they were worldly, hard-core bands. Kids and young adults came from all over the surrounding areas.
There were fights. The church building was destroyed on almost a regular basis. It stunk in there from all the sweaty bodies “dancing” in the mosh pit. My couch that we had there was puked on. Kids were found smoking pot and doing other drugs. It had become one of the most popular hard-core venues around.
The outreach team was able to build friendships that would most likely not have ever even had a chance without these outreaches. The concerts never ended without someone sharing the Gospel and calling for people to be born again. On a normal basis, handfuls of teens and young adults were flocking to the stage to give their lives to God. They were being delivered from drugs and alcohol. They were being saved from thoughts of suicide. They were being saved from cutting. They were being physically and mentally healed on a regular basis! God was working in these young people.
There was this one kid that gave his life to Jesus during one of the events. This kid was so on fire for God. It was the coolest thing to see. This kid was dramatically changed. He would make signs and stand outside in the parking lot, where all the people would gather during the band changes. His signs would read, “Free Prayer.” He did this all on his own. He wanted so much just to be able to pray with these fellow kids that he knew were hurting and needed Jesus. He was eager to learn and be discipled. He wanted nothing more than to follow Jesus and be His disciple.
Man, we (the ministry team) were all so proud of ourselves. We talked about this kid every time we would tell people about the outreaches… thinking we did this awesome thing of introducing this kid to Jesus…
Come to find out later down the road, the young man actually grew up in a Christian home, with Christian parents and family… a pastor’s home. The young man was a pastor’s kid! We didn’t DO anything! His parents had done all the ground work. YEARS of ground work. Years of teaching. Years of praying. Years of leading and pointing their son “in the way he should go.” And our church just happened to get to play a TINY little part in this young man’s journey and life with God.
When my husband was three or four years old, his grandfather, who was an avid gardener lived with them. One day his grandfather was planting some seeds and my husband wanted to help. His grandfather would make the little mounds and holes for each seed to go into. Making the holes the exact depth that the seed needed to be planted.
Before that day came that they could plant these seeds, my husband's grandfather had spent much time and effort getting that backyard and ground ready for the seeds. There were weeds and other desert plants to clear out. And he remembers that he even tilled the ground in preparation for the planting of that garden. His grandfather did a lot work to get things ready for those seeds to be planted and be able to grow well.
He would then hand Paul one seed at a time, telling him exactly where to put the seed. Paul would put the seed in the hole and his grandfather would cover it up. They would do this until all their seeds were planted. Paul would go out there everyday with his grandfather to watch and wait for those seeds to sprout out of the ground. He was so excited! He thought he planted and grew all those plants!
Our lives with God are exactly like that. All these “things” I've done for the Kingdom of God… all the people I’ve prayed with… all the people I’ve discipled and taught and led… all the witnessing and sharing the Gospel… the church that my husband and I started and the churches we've pastored… the ministries we’ve come along side to help and assist… the sermons we’ve preached… the mission fields we’ve been to… all these amazing things “we” think we’ve done… when in actuality, we just got to play a tiny. little. part. … Following Jesus with the seeds HE placed in our hands and placing those seeds exactly where He says, exactly where HE provides the opportunity to do so, just like my husband as a little boy who followed his grandfather.
The “gardens” God allows you and I to be a part of aren’t ever going to look the same as the one next door. Some seeds that get planted take longer to germinate. Some plants take a long time to grow. Some sprout up overnight. And some of the plants die off quick.
Some of us get to do the planting. Some of us get to do the watering. Some of us get to be there to help bring in the harvest. Harvesting where someone else did the work... all the while thinking we did the work.
I know people that get to be there for the harvest. I’m always so jealous of them! It just doesn’t seem fair sometimes. They have the large churches. Their churches grow fast. And it’s easy to compare the “work” we do and yet how is it possible to compare “planting” vs “watering?” Or to compare “harvesting” vs “watering?” Or what about comparing “planting” vs “harvesting?”
Planting= 1 little seed being planted, one time.
Watering= water EVERY. SINGLE. DAY. for the growth and life of the plant.
Harvesting= an un-countable amount of fruit that was yielded from that 1 little seed.
There is no comparison to the work any of us does in the Kingdom of God. We may think we can measure it by looking over to the next person, the church down the street, the ministry so and so started, the amount of people so and so has in their church or Bible study or ministry or following…
What fruit would there be to “harvest” for the Kingdom of God if the one who was supposed to water wasn’t there? Who would there be to “water” if someone(s) hadn’t planted the seeds?
If we are willing, we only GET to be a part of God’s plan. We are no one special in that sense. Nothing you or I have done would’ve been done without another person that is doing exactly as God has allowed. Someone did some work before we entered the picture and someone is doing some work after we exit the picture.
"I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow. So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow.
The one who plants and the one who waters have one purpose, and they will each be rewarded according to their own labor. For we are co-workers in God’s service; you are God’s field, God’s building."
"I sent you to reap what you have not worked for. Others have done the hard work, and you have reaped the benefits of their labor."
#nittygritty, #pcrancho, #shaunawritesstuff, #diaryofapastorswife, #itsnotaboutyou, #pcglobal, #pcmissions, #pcgermany, #praisechapel,
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