limits

Yesterday I had lunch with a group of pastors. All of us have been in the pastorate for at least 10 years, some (like me) for as many as 25. As I looked around the table, I remembered what we looked like 15, 20 years ago. One of the (younger) guys shared that he’d played football last weekend with some of the students at his church, guys 20 years younger. It was a bit of a reality check to realize that he was a lot sorer the next day than he thought he’d be.

As we get older, our limitations become more real. The big goals that we had when we were younger come into clearer focus and we realize that some of those goals are simply out of reach. Am I ok with accepting my limitations and changing my expectations?

My temptation is to think that I didn’t try hard enough, that I should set my sights higher and work harder, that I just didn’t have enough knowledge or skill or chutzpah. But that’s my ego talking, encouraged by the American ethos where “any little kid can grow up to be President” (and I’m still getting over the shock of being older than the current President).

God tells me that his purposes are accomplished “not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit” (Zechariah 4:6). He adds, “Who despises the day of small things?” (Zech 4:10). Whether God wants me to preach to 5,000 or watch 5 kids in the nursery is up to him.

When one of our leadership team members termed out of the team (after 6 years of service), it left him wondering what to do next. He’d hit the pinnacle of leadership at Grace, supposedly. But now God’s given him a ministry teaching first and second graders in Sunday School. And guess what? He loves it! He’s where God wants him, teaching “small things”. And God says that’s nothing to sneeze at (even when they’re sneezing back).