I had a dream today, 2/16/08, that held a valuable lesson, and I’d like to share it with you. In this dream my sister, husband & I knew a Christian couple, and they had an adult daughter and son. The daughter had sent out a letter to my sister, and to my husband & I, asking for prayer for her brother. It seemed that he had written for admittance to a ministry and been turned down twice. It was likened to him waiting for a bride and being told “no, not now.” So his sister wrote because the young man was discouraged, asking us all to pray for him.
As I heard about the 2 letters (I hadn’t read them myself), I came to understand that it was the same trial appointed to all of us; waiting, and rejection. I remembered that there had been other times of silence in the past, such as during the time of the Macabees. It seemed like a period of silence and waiting as in Jesus’ parable where the Master went away and was delayed returning. Yet He entrusted His kingdom to His servants. Surely He wouldn’t to this if they couldn’t faithfully care for His kingdom in His absence. These thoughts were all a part of the understanding the Holy Spirit put in my heart, and then I woke up.
In prayer about this dream, the Holy Spirit continued to speak to me from the parable about the tenants of the vineyard (Mt 21:33-39). When the Master sent His servants to collect the fruit from the tenants who worked the vineyard, the servants were rejected and abused. Knowing that the servants were doing their Master’s will to try to collect the fruit, this response from the tenants must have been discouraging to them. It would be similar to writing for a bride, and being repeatedly rejected. So, we need to encourage and pray for our brothers in Christ during their trials.
In these situations we often wonder why God does not step in and change the hearts of the tenants, or the ministers of churches who hold the talents of the people in their hands. Their controlling manner seems to speak about their desire to build their own kingdom instead of giving God the fruit of His planting. But in this parable the Master did not kick the tenants out until they killed His Son to take the inheritance for themselves. And so, in our lives we find ourselves, at times, sent to a church to minister to them, and being rejected, or accused of wrong-doing. The Lord then sends someone else, and someone after that to see if the one to whom He has rented the vineyard will give Him his fruit. It is not until a church rejects the lordship of the Holy Spirit and blasphemes His words and actions that the Master Himself kicks them out of His church. Some ministers will refuse to be ruled over by the Holy Spirit, and some will yield to Him and give Him His fruits.
The servants who suffer rejection and abuse need encouragement. In Revelation it is stated that this kind of treatment calls for the patient endurance of the saints (Rev 3:10). Later in the day I understood that the sister and brother were my husband and I. I often pray, and ask other to pray for him to be encouraged, and for an open door of ministry for us. Many churches do not receive ministry from people outside their circle, and in the past we have been made to feel as if we were doing something wrong to serve the Lord in a church not our own. If that were not bad enough, we have also been made to feel as if we were doing something wrong when serving in a ministry we did belong to. But then, as servants, what we do for the Lord is not just about us . . . it is about His Kingdom.
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