Car Repairs and Suffering in Ministry and Binistry - Ministry & Business Marketing, Media and Strategy Blog

Have I mentioned how much I hate working on cars? Let me remind you.

I own a beautiful, 4-door, hunk of Detroit steel that takes good care of me most of the time. But regular maintenance is necessary, hence I set out to change the spark plugs and wires this past week.

What for most of you would've taken about as much time to spell your own name, required several days for yours truly. I replaced the first few plugs without much fanfare. Then came "the three."

My good friends in Detroit decided the best place for the distributor was directly above the spark plugs, which themselves were already wedged on the backside of the engine. Add to that my replacing the spark plug wires in the wrong order, and I quickly owned a car that ran better before I tuned it up! After finally consulting a repair guide, I fixed my dumb mistakes and my horseless carriage now runs great. Along the way, I received many small cuts on my hands, wrenched my back, and was in a generally foul mood until order was restored.

Why bring up my misadventure in auto repair? First, because it's funny. And, more importantly, because my vehicular dissonance (which I believe is a real medical condition), sparked in me a search of Scriptures about finding God's will and suffering for Christ.

No, I don't think not being able to fix my car is suffering for Christ. But it does illustrate how sometimes we set out to accomplish a perfectly simple task--tuning up a car or honestly seeking God's will for our ministry or binistry--and we find ourselves in a prolonged world of hurt. But just as the right auto manual helped me sort things out, so God's word will help you make sense of your ministry or binistry.

Though we'd often rather skip the suffering passages in favor of Jeremiah 29:11-13 and others, God's word is blunt about suffering: if you're a true Christ-follower, you will suffer for Him. And this suffering sometimes occurs when and, in fact, because you're genuinely seeking Him.

Hear the encouragement of the Spirit through Peter: "Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you, which comes upon you for your testing, as though some strange thing were happening to you; but to the degree that you share the sufferings of Christ, keep on rejoicing, so that also at the revelation of His glory you may rejoice with exultation." (1 Peter 4:11-13)

Surprise! Christ suffered for God's sake. Surprise! We will suffer in the same way and we are commanded to "keep on rejoicing in it." But this is not blind, dumb optimism. This is not simply keeping a sunny disposition. This is rejoicing in hope.

We are to keep on rejoicing to the degree that we share the sufferings of Christ, so that when Christ returns we may rejoice with exultation. On this Pastor John Piper declares, "Our joy now through suffering is the means of attaining our joy then, a thousand-fold in glory."

As an independent ministry and binistry consultant in the midst of a prolonged search for the right ministry to join full-time, I identify with all of you wondering just what the heck God wants to do in you and through you. I understand hemorrhaging savings like it's going out style. And I especially empathize with genuinely seeking God's will in the midst of suffering for Christ by putting everything on the line for the sake of figuring out what He wants you to accomplish.

But there is hope for us. In fact, the Spirit-led author of Hebrews says, "For it was fitting for Him, for whom are all things, and through whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to perfect the author of their salvation through sufferings." (Heb. 2:10) See what God worked through Christ's pain: "because of the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, so that by the grace of God He might taste death for everyone." (Heb. 2:9) If God wrought Christ's substitutionary atonement for us through Jesus' sufferings, how much more will he produce as we suffer in Christ?

Take heart in hardship, not because you're "pulling yourself up by your bootstraps," but because you know the outcome of suffering in Christ: joyous exulting at our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ's return! This the hope of all who know and follow Jesus Christ. If you do not know Him, I encourage you to read the book of John in the New Testament. You can download a free audio New Testament in nearly 300 languages here. Then contact me through the "Contact Lucky Rock" button to the left of this post.

Learn from my auto follies and do not suffer without hope. Read God's manual for your ministry and binistry and suffer for Christ, not as though some strange thing were happening to you, but constantly rejoicing with a view to big-time rejoicing at His soon appearing. And maybe find a good mechanic...