As a pastor, what does it mean to lead by faith in this strange time? I’ve been thinking about this a lot over the past several weeks. I’m sure many others have as well.
Here’s what I know: There are times in ministry when we believe God is leading in one direction–and perhaps He is–but it may only be for a short period of time before He changes things up. Without notice, He may say, “It’s time to stop what you’re doing and go in this new direction.” Or “I want you to begin this new program or ministry you have never thought about before.”
Are you and I willing to change directions as God leads? This seems to be a key aspect of leading by faith as a pastor in the church. Being willing to allow God to mess up our plans because He has something better in mind, even if we didn’t see it coming.
And God is definitely messing up many of “our plans” in this time.
But as with all things, God knows exactly what He is doing. And He is doing it for our good, the good of our churches, the good of the lost, and for His ultimate glory. It’s true.
Look, God is alive and He is at work. It might be that behind the scenes, God has been doing a work in your congregation or in your community that you as a leader are not even aware of, yet the time has come to implement the plan He has been preparing. Will you be ready and willing to go where He leads? Even though it interferes with your plans?
Whatever it looks like, the point is this: living by and leading with faith means we are open to move and change as God redirects us.
When we stop allowing the Lord to redirect our plans, our ministries become about us and our agenda, instead of the Lord and His agenda. As pastors, we must ask God to give us radical faith that says, “God whatever You want, wherever You want us to go, we are willing to go! As crazy as it looks, as crazy as it seems, walking by faith in You is where we want to be.”
Our churches need pastors in this time who lead from a place of radical faith–leaders who trust in the God who loves His sheep and loves the lost who have yet to come to Jesus. May we as pastors and leaders ask the Lord to grow us in faith, that we might lead from a place of crazy, humble, unflinching trust in Him as He guides us step by step.
Editor’s note: This post originally appeared on Mark’s blog Preach, Lead, Love.,
Published April 30, 2020
