I enjoyed being a Bible Worker for 30 years. As one pastor told me, a Bible Worker gets to have all the fun of being a pastor without any of the headaches. Well I had my share of headaches and heartaches too, but I loved preaching and teaching and giving personal Bible studies. I loved watching people grow in their relationship with Christ. During those 30 years I rejoiced as some came, and cried when they left, only to rejoice again when years later they would return. Early in my Bible Worker ministry many people told me I should go on to become a conference pastor. I checked into it a couple of times but it never seemed to work out. A few times I would send my resume out but never got any calls. That was okay. God was blessing my Bible Worker ministry both spiritually as well as financially. So by the time I got into my mid fifties, I had joyfully accepted the fact that this was far as I would advance in the “ranks.” It was a wonderful life just the way it was. 

As 2022 began, I wrote a New Year’s devotional, called Submission Over Ambition. I wrote about how instead of having ambitions for the new year, we should just offer ourselves to Christ, and tell Him to take us and do with us whatever He wants in 2022. That could range from being taken to heaven in a chariot of fire like Elijah, or dying alone in a dungeon like John the Baptist. I told God to take me this year and just do whatever He wanted with me. I had no ambitions. After praying that prayer I went on about my Bible work planning to be a Bible Worker the rest of my life. 

Around July 1, I was listening to a sermon podcast by Pastor Derek Morris. In His sermon he talked about how he came to the Hope Channel to work with the Sabbath school program but ended up becoming the president of the Hope channel. He went on about how his calling became “much more” than he expected. He talked about how God has “much more” in store for all of us. As he kept repeating “much more” throughout his sermon, I started asking God why I was hearing this? Did God have more in store for my ministry? For years I had totally forgotten about ever becoming a pastor with the conference. Was God telling me that would still happen one day? 

On July 6 I was driving home to Tampa from Homosassa Florida, where I was doing Bible work for the Homosassa Seventh-day Adventist church. I was in my own little world, enjoying the leisure drive down the country roads leading me back home to Tampa, when I noticed a missed call from the Florida Adventist conference office on my cell phone. I found a place to pull over and return the call. What the conference official shared with me took me totally by surprise. The conference executives had met, prayed, and wanted me to be the conference pastor of a three church district including the Homosassa church. I would not need to do any more fundraising for my Bible Worker fund. I would be a full-fledged conference senior pastor with a salary from the conference. Since this phone call came out of nowhere I prayed about it all night. I remembered my prayer as the new year began, “Take me Christ and do whatever you want with me in 2022.” I realized God was telling me what He wanted to do with me in 2022. 

In August my new position was made official, and Pastor Javier Diaz, the conference official, took me to all three of my new churches one Sabbath, and installed me as their senior pastor.

Many of my friends congratulated me, and told me I deserved this, after working so hard as a Bible Worker to become a pastor. I appreciated their kind encouraging words, but I did not work hard as a Bible Worker to become a pastor. I worked hard as a Bible Worker to lead people to salvation and a better life in Christ. When I get to heaven, titles and positions won’t mean a thing. All that matters is having my friends’ names written in the Lamb’s book of life!

Several saints who supported my Bible Worker ministry through the years told me this call to become a pastor from being a Bible Worker was way overdue. It was about time, they said. It should have happened long ago. But again I knew it was the perfect time. First of all, like I said at the beginning, I loved being a Bible Worker. As a matter of fact, I still have my Bible and I still work with it so I am still a Bible Worker even while being a pastor.

I have so many precious experiences and memories studying with so many different families and individuals. I would not trade any of those memories for anything. Even when people were telling me that I should be a pastor, I never felt like I was waiting to be a pastor. I was enjoying and loving being a Bible Worker. As a matter of fact, when I learned it was official and was given my start date as a pastor, I did not rush the days by until I was finally a pastor. I had enough life experience to realize that I will one day look back on my Bible Worker days with fond memories. So I savored each of my last days of being a Bible Worker. God blessed me with an amazing 30 years as a Bible Worker. With so many life experiences, I have learned to enjoy the present instead of looking back or trying to reach for the future. Every phase of life is a gift from God, that should be loved, appreciated and embraced. 

I don’t believe my new assignment was long overdue. I think it came at the perfect time. 

But like the stars in the vast circuit of their appointed path, God’s purposes know no haste and no delay. -Ellen White, Desire of Ages, Page 32. 

Sure, when I was much younger I had dreamed of being a pastor one day, but it wasn’t until I had surrendered my ambition, and embraced and loved being exactly where God had me at the time, that the call finally came. I expected the call when I was younger but it never came then. It came when I was not expecting it at all. But isn’t that how God works? Sarai has her first child after her child bearing years. Jacob is reunited with his son Joseph long after he had given him up for dead. One thing I learned in our previous lesson quarterly on Genesis is, God is not in a hurry to do anything. Regarding the second coming, Jesus warns all the date setters, 

You also must be ready all the time, for the Son of Man will come when least expected. Matthew 24:44 NLT 

Throughout history, God’s favorite time to do anything seems to be when we least expect it. 

I can hardly say I was waiting in the crucible to become a pastor. Being a Bible Worker for 30 years was no crucible. It was 30 precious years of precious and amazing experiences I would not trade for anything. However if you feel like you are waiting in a crucible, here would be my words of encouragement for you: Stop waiting. Stop waiting for the storm to pass and learn how to dance in the rain. Learn to love where you are now. Surrender all your ambitions to Christ, and “At the right time, I, the Lord, will make it happen. ” Isaiah 60:22. NLT 

Amen!(3)

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Join the panel as they discuss Waiting in the Crucible.

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The showdown on top of Mount Carmel had ended (1 Kings 18:1-46). Fire had come out of heaven, all the people had acknowledged the true God, and the false prophets had been put to death. God had been vindicated. You would have thought that Elijah had been growing in spiritual strength as the day went on, but suddenly he heard something that terrified him so much that he wanted to die.

Image © Lars Justinen at Goodsalt.com

Read the rest of the story in 1 Kings 19:1-9. The last words in the verses are worrisome: “And the word of the LORD came to him: ’What are you doing here, Elijah?’” (1 Kings 19:9, NIV). Evidently, Elijah’s fear caused him to run and find himself in the wrong place.

After such a powerful intervention by the Lord on Mount Carmel, Elijah should have been full of faith and trust; instead, he runs in fear for his life. What lesson can we learn from this bad example?

This story illustrates something important: when we rush, we can very easily find ourselves in the wrong place. In Elijah’s case, it was his fear that caused him to be overwhelmed and rush into the desert, wishing that he had never been born. But there are other things that cause us to rush outside of God’s plan for us.

Read the following verses. Genesis 16:1-3; Numbers 20:10-12; Judges 14:1-3; Matthew 20:20-21; Luke 9:52-56; Acts 9:1. What things caused the characters depicted here to rush outside of God’s will?

How easy to let such things as ambition, anger, passion, lack of faith, or a supposed “zeal” for the Lord cause us to rush ahead to where we shouldn’t be. No one is immune to this danger. The key is to cultivate a trusting faith in the goodness and mercy of God, who we know loves us and wants what’s best for us. This doesn’t happen automatically. Faith might be a gift, but it’s a gift that needs to be cultivated, nurtured, and jealously guarded.

<–Tuesday Thursday–>

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Having scanned through the lesson quarterly, there are so many hymns from which to choose a theme. In effect, there is a commencing theme hymn which changes through the quarter to the finale theme hymn. To start with, we could use:
Hymn 552 – The Lord’s My Shepherd or 
Hymn 545 – Savior, Like a Shepherd.

Somewhere in the middle of the quarter one could change the theme and add in
Hymn 159 – On a Hill Far Away which is where we complete our studies in Lesson 13.

 Patience – how does one learn this? “The Lord tells us to cultivate it” (Sabbath afternoon’s introduction). We learn the aspects of patience in 
Hymn 81 – Though I Speak With Tongues (verse 2). Meantime, we wait patiently as has The Church: 
Hymn 217 – The Church Has Waited Long. We may learn patience from our Saviour in 
Hymn 289 – The Savior Is Waiting.

Sunday encourages us to “maintain peace and trust in God” while learning patience:
Hymn 279 – Only Trust Him,
Hymn 510 – If You But Trust in God to Guide You,
Hymn 524 – ‘Tis So Sweet to Trust in Jesus,
Hymn 535 – I Am Trusting Thee, Lord Jesus (Psalm 37:5), and
Hymn 590 – Trust and Obey.

 We are to “focus on the One who holds those things in His hands”: 
Hymn 90 – Eternal God Whose Power Upholds.

 Monday raises the question of “why Jesus is waiting to come the second time”, but we are reminded the wonders of this in:
Hymn 212 – ‘Tis Almost Time for the Lord to Come,
Hymn 218 – When He Cometh,
Hymn 220 – When He Comes,
Hymn 219 – When Jesus Comes in Glory, and
Hymn 215 – The King Shall Come, all because My Faith Looks Up to Thee – Hymn 517.

 Wednesday finishes with the hymns of our “trusting faith” and “the goodness and mercy of God”: 
Hymn 110 – God’s Free Mercy Streameth.

Thursday continues the theme of trust and completes the study with 
Praise Him! Praise Him – Hymn 241. We are at liberty to ask 
O For a Heart to Praise My God – Hymn 323 so 
We Praise Thee With Our Minds – Hymn 642. There are many hymns from which to choose that show our praise and adoration of our Mighty God.

 To learn unknown hymns, you will find the accompaniment music for each one at: https://sdahymnals.com/Hymnal/

Another great resource is for when there is a hymn you wish to sing but can’t find it in your hymnal. Go to https://www.sdahymnal.org and in the search bar type a special word in that is in the hymn. I am sure you will be amazed at the help you will be given.

 2 Timothy 2:15 KJV – “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”

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Key Thought: Patience is quietly waiting and watching, trusting in Jesus. We would have more peace and happiness if we trained ourselves to have more faith, more love, and greater patience.
September 10, 2022

1. Have a volunteer read Romans 5:6, Galatians 4:4..

1. Ask class members to share a short thought on what the most important point is in this passage.
2. What do these verses tell us about God’s timing?
3. Personal Application: Share an example of how God’s timing worked out perfectly for you or someone you know. Share your thoughts.
4. Case Study: One of your relatives states, “I’ve been praying for a long time, waiting for God to answer my prayer. Do you think He will ever answer it? Could I be doing something wrong that He won’t answer? Could He not answer it because it is not His will?” How would you respond to your relative?

2. Have a volunteer read I Samuel 26:8-11.

1. Ask class members to share a thought on what the most important point in this text is.
2. Why does David refuse to kill Saul?
3. Personal Application: How much patience and trust in God do you have when you are waiting for a job, promotion, soulmate, or other? Share your thoughts
4. Case Study: One of your friends states, “David was anointed by Samuel to be king. Saul had forfeited his right to be king and trying to kill David. Why would David still consider Saul the Lord’s anointed? He should have taken Abishai’s advice and saved everyone a lot of trouble. Letting an evil person live longer just gives them time to commit more evil.” How would you respond to your friend?

3. Have a volunteer read I Kings 19:1-9

1. Ask class members to share a short
2. Why, after facing down the priests of Baal and gaining a great victory, did Elijah flee in fear?
3. Personal Application: Have you ever been afraid of something or someone? How do you cope with fear? Share your thoughts.
4. Case Study: One of your neighbors states: “How can someone be so bold and trusting in the Lord one instant, and then be so fearful and not trusting the Lord the next? Why are there such highs and lows, even in the patriarchs and prophets?” How would you respond to your relative?

4. Have a volunteer read Psalm 37:4.

1. Ask class members to share a thought on what the most important point in this text is.
2. What does it mean to take delight in the Lord?
3. Personal Application: Does God really give you the desires of your heart if you delight yourself in the Lord? Share your thoughts?
4. Case Study: Think of one person who needs to hear a message from this week’s lesson. Tell the class what you plan to do this week to share with them.

(Truth that is not lived, that is not imparted, loses its life-giving power, its healing virtue. Its blessings can be retained only as it is shared.”Ministry of Healing, p. 148).

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