Yesterday’s post about the reality check in the neighbourhood of The Mustard Seed got me thinking about the way God eases someone into a position. Sometimes, it’s about favour, and sometimes, it’s about responsibility.
There’s no question that the vibe around The Seed is a much tougher one than around Gospel Mission seven years ago. People were in rough shape there, to be sure, but Fentanyl hadn’t become a “thing” (the cynic in me finds it interesting that the media finally caught on to the problem when children of well-to-do families started “dropping”), and a Naloxone kit had not become the “don’t-leave-home-without-it” necessity; and that scene was tougher than it was around Rainbow Mission, where I spent the better part of three years, just after the Lord called me into that ministry.
The scene at Gospel Mission, Vancouver, ca. 2011
One thing became clear, during my time at Gospel Mission: I wouldn’t have lasted a month there if I’d been put there at the beginning. Rainbow was near to the edge of the Skid Row area — more or less on the border of an older residential part of Vancouver. It was a place to get to know the people and the atmosphere; to shake off my desire to Expound On The Word Of God and learn how to share the Gospel in ways that were relevant to the people in the area. I also learned how to listen, rather than try to offer The Answer to people’s problems.
By the time Rainbow Mission lost its lease and had to close, I was “ready” for the more intense region around Pigeon Park. And without those seven and-a-half years, and time to observe what things had become in Victoria, I could not have made the move to The Seed.
It strikes me as an extension of God’s promise to Moses:
“And the LORD your God will drive out those nations before you little by little; you will be unable to destroy them at once, lest the beasts of the field become too numerous for you.”
— Deuteronomy 7:22
In other words, if we get all the favour — or all the responsibility — that He has in mind for us, dropped into our laps all at once, we won’t be able to handle it. In the same vein, if I had tried to start ministry at The Mustard Seed now — or, indeed, at Gospel Mission as it was in 2004 — I would have been chewed up and spat out by the situation. In fact, I needed the experience of walking down Granville Mall to get to work in 2004, to start preparing me for the scene at Rainbow Mission.
(I liken it to pro sports: you’re expected to spend some time in the minor leagues, honing your skills, getting ready for pitching over 90 miles an hour. Unless your Robin Yount or Al Kaline, who went straight from high school into the majors, you need that time to develop.)
But God does promise us that, if we’re patient, He knocks down the obstacles to where He wants us to be,
“But the LORD your God will deliver them over to you, and will inflict defeat upon them until they are destroyed.”
— Deuteronomy 7:23
God is a God of order, and the progression He puts us through only makes us stronger and better servants.
Two Minutes for Cross-Checking! 