Why can't I be blessed?

Fruitfulness or Barrenness.

Last week I had the privilege of being an observer at the annual conference of a particular church denomination here in the United Kingdom. On the Friday evening the world leader of this movement stood to speak. He was a story teller, and for the next 30 minutes I along with the rest of the congregation sat enthralled and captivated by this man's ability to bring God's word alive to his listeners. His analogies were both apt and sometimes funny. The overall point he made was both penetrating and relevant.  He spoke of fruitfulness and barrenness, he told the stories of women in the bible who were barren and then in the most amazing way how God intervened and they bore a son at just the right time, HIS TIME. He told of Hannah the mother of Samuel and her anguish and her cry to have a child while her husband's second wife- Peninnah- bore many children. The speaker wondered if Peninnah ever bragged or strutted or showed off her children when around Hannah, just to remind Hannah that she was fruitful and Hannah was barren.

"Oh Lord, why can't I be blessed" was Hannah's lament. God heard Hannah.

 The conclusion of the message was, when we look around at other churches and church leaders, is our cry the same as that of Hannah's. Hey Lord why can't my church grow, why are they having revival and I am not? Why is that country experiencing such fantastic church growth and we are not? Do we have the same thoughts when we look in our own towns and cities where we have laboured as faithful pastors for many years and we see the local Baptist or Pentecostal or Anglican (Episcopalian) church overflowing and making great strides in the same community we serve in. Are we jealous? Do we feel just a little bit peeved that God appears to be working next door but not with us.

A few years ago, one fine summers day, I was visiting my aged parents in a little village in rural England. I decided to go for a walk after lunch and after a short time found myself seated on a bench in a shady part of a graveyard overlooking an ancient church. The local parish priest was cutting the grass and switched off his lawnmower and wiping his sweaty brow, joined me on the bench. I think the elderly gentleman was glad of the distraction. He told me the church was 800 years old and he also told me how happy he was to serve this small rural parish in the declining years of his life and ministry. We had a long conversation that afternoon as the priest regaled me with stories of serving a rural parish and the peoples and personalities that were woven so closely into the fabric of his life. What moved me most was not just the fact that consistently, for 800 years, people of this particular village had worshiped Jesus, on this same spot, but also the humbleness and joy that this old parish priest showed at the fruitfulness of his ministry. He was content.

As someone who observes the continual ups and downs of Church Growth and Christian Leadership and as someone who is involved in a rapidly growing church. I see areas that are perhaps the reason why some churches are blessed and some appear not to be:

 The Bible says "That Godliness with contentment is great gain" (1Tim6:6). Ever leader of rapidly growing churches I speak to, is content in his or her calling. They believe that God has called them to this particular area for a purpose and it is their responsibility to serve and to build a great atmosphere by which others are drawn and into which God can  bring the lost.

 The Bible says " Go into all the world and make disciples"(Matt 28: 19). The church  has a mission and that mission is to the lost. We cannot grow a church but God can. We need to do our part. Elkanah the father of Samuel and husband of Hannah still had to do his part in order for Samuel to be born. We still have to do our part. The mistake we make is that when we get to a comfortable size we forget that church is not for the saved but for the unsaved. We become a shepherd and not a leader. It is sheep that have sheep not shepherds. Though it is everybody's responsibility to help win the lost.

The Bible says "if you want to build a tower you need to sit down and count the cost, it is not just about laying a foundation" (Luke 14:28-30). When a leader plants a church he has sat down and counted the cost. He lays a foundation creates a structure that is functional and resilient. He builds relationship and develops leadership that influences others to the cause of Christ.

In conclusion if you are constantly looking at what your neighbour has and what you don't have maybe it's because you are not content in your calling. Perhaps you have forgotten the mission of the church and have grown comfortable in just shepherding those that you have gathered around you. Perhaps it has been years or even decades since someone was won for Jesus in your church. Or maybe you are just not able or inclined to be the leader that God has called you to be and are unwilling to count the cost of building relationship or developing and influencing other leaders. To be fruitful or to be barren is a choice, we choose it. However I believe it is much more, it is a mindset. If we don't believe that God can do what he said he can do and live in that mindset of barrenness we will never have what others have. But if we live in the mindset of fruitfulness and do all we can to produce and to take what God has given us then there are no limits to what God can do for us.

Like Hannah God hears your lament, are you doing your part?