In 1973 at the age of 21, I married a man who desired to serve the Lord in full time ministry. That meant that I too, was going to be in full-time ministry for the Lord.
The course of my life was set at that time, but the spirit in which I served the Lord alongside my husband—was my decision to make. I could not live off of his zeal or desire. It was important that I also had a spirit of surrender. I had to resolve in my own heart that I would obey and follow the calling of God on my husband's life and willingly submit myself to God's will for my own.
Surrender is a determination to do God's will…even before you know what it is.
If I was going to marry Ken Shaffer, then I had to determine that I would surrender to the will of God for my life, whatever that may involve and in spite of whatever sacrifices I would have to make in the future.
When I surrendered myself to God's will for my life, I did not have to fear what His will might be. So many people think that if they surrender themselves to serve God, that He will send them to the deepest part of the jungle somewhere and their lives will be boring and miserable. I can tell you from first hand knowledge in personally knowing missionaries who have gone to the deep, dark jungles of our world, that their lives are anything but boring and miserable!
Whatever God calls us to do…He will give us a heart for it and equip us to do it!
After all…that is God's job if He has truly called us!
We do not need to fear that God's will is going to be filled with misery.
This month, my husband and I, along with our church family, will be celebrating the 30th
Anniversary of the founding of our church. This milestone is especially significant to my husband and I, because it marks 30 years since we came with our two little boys, to a city that did not want us.
There were no welcoming committees to greet us. There were no neighbors with a plate of cookies, welcoming us to the town and the neighborhood. There were only rumors. Rumors of a Baptist preacher moving to town and snickers and bets about how long he would stay here. You see…there had never been a Baptist church or a Baptist preacher that had ever come to stay in our town, in its 100 year history! Until now…
Our surrender and resolve to "go anywhere" and "do anything" to serve the Lord, was put to the test immediately!
If you are going to truly surrender to the Lord's will for your life, you will probably lose friends, be looked at and scrutinized, critiqued from every angle while at the same time, loved dearly and appreciated by others. You may face health emergencies because of stress or physical weakness and financial difficulties may make you want to quit altogether. But none of this should matter. God is the One we are serving. He is the One worthy of our labor and our praise. He is the One who will see us through if we remain…surrendered to Him.
I would not change the last 38 years of my life for anything! Determination to remain surrendered…is a resolving to obey and knowing in my heart that my God is Sovereign and He makes no mistakes.
"I thank You, Lord, for the privilege to serve You with my dear and faithful husband. Help me to always yield myself in obedience to Your will…whatever that may be."
I Am Resolved…
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
4 comments:
Thank you Pastor and Mrs. Shaffer for making that decision 30 years ago to go where the Lord wanted you. Because of it we have a place to serve the Lord here in Larimore. I am deeply thankful for you and what the Lord has done through you.
HAPPY 30th to you and NTBC
Thank you dear Sharry! You too, resolved 30 years ago to be faithful to the Lord and you are still here, serving the Lord! You too, are example of surrender and faithfulness. You have been through a lot, but you have seen the Good Hand of your God sustaining you. You have been the BEST secretary any Pastor could have and the most faithful church organist on the planet. My husband and I are both so grateful for your loyal, spiritual mind and your fervent love for the Lord's church and to us as well. We owe you much!
Thank you for being a friend to your Pastor and to me!
Happy 30th my friend!
Thank you for writing this. Reading with tears!
Thank you, Mrs.Shaffer - for writing this with such candor instead of glossing over difficulties or giving the 'pat answer'. Thank you for being real, for really doing and thinking what you wrote. Thank you also, for making that decision initially and, trusting God to take care of things you didn't understand, reinforcing that decision so many times when you maybe didn't want to. You are such a blessing to me! I am so thankful for you and for Pastor!
hugs! Sarah H
Post a Comment