Strength In Vulnerability


“Pray for us: for we trust we have a good conscience, in all things willing to live honestly.”
The above statement is ascribed to the Apostle who wrote the epistle to the Hebrews (Hebrews 13:18). He emphasized the need for the congregation to pray for them who were the leaders of the early church. I had read the above verse many times but did not absorb the importance until the following incident.
In the summer of 2015, on my way to the office on a Monday morning, I had a ghastly motor accident. It was a serious accident that nearly killed the occupants of the other car. I must have lost concentration in a split of a second and I hit the car from the rear. The driver of the other car had a knee injury while the impact of the crash gave me a fracture on my wrist bone.
After X-ray, the orthopaedic doctor recommended that I wore a wrist brace for four to five weeks. The injury left me in excruciating pain but wearing the brace all day made me feel better. The doctor said I should wear it constantly so the injury could heal on time.
On my way to the village the following Sunday, I was on a bike to complete the journey from the nearby village where I used to park my car then. I was crossing the stream that leads to the village when I remembered that I had the brace on. How would it look like? I thought Pastor having an accident? Will this not shake their belief? Will it not make them underrate me? Am I not supposed to prove to them that God watches over his people? Don’t get me wrong. Growing up, I was influenced by Pastors who preached to church workers and ministers, that the congregation must not see their Pastor’s vulnerability and that even if the Pastor is seriously ill, he must make it to church as he has no excuse to give his members.

I pulled off the brace and hid it under my blazer. However, I was so uncomfortable with the idea. Am I not being untruthful? I am supposed to be a man of God and not a God of men. Both conflicting thoughts were ringing through my head and I had to listen to my heart. I wore the braces again as I got to the village.
Gbaukuchi Women Choir

The members started arriving one after the other, they worried at the sight of the brace and were asking me too many questions but the interpreter had not arrived. By the time the interpreter arrived, we started the service immediately and an idea occurred to me in the course of the service. I decided to give a testimony. This was a better way of telling the entire congregation what happened. I narrated the incident and they all clapped, praising God.

After the service, one man suggested I should wait; he called the others to gather that they should pray for me. Boy, did they pray as I had ever seen? I was extremely touched and sober as I mounted the bike taking me to the next village where my car was. I heard a tiny, still voice saying, “aren’t you happy you showed them the need to be praying for you and that men of God are vulnerable too?”
Leaders need the prayers of their followers more than they need his!
“Brethren, pray for us.” - 1 Thessalonians 5:25.

Comments

  1. UnknownJune 6, 2020 at 10:21 PM

    Very inspiring. You're right back in the day (I want to believe it's the level of understanding then) the Pastor is supposed to be perfect in all things. But now we see God revealing everything about His people. Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, David. So we can be completely open and still be God's servants.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Yinka T.June 7, 2020 at 6:23 AM

    This is amazing, well done bro. The grace of God abounds!

    ReplyDelete
  3. UnknownJune 7, 2020 at 8:20 AM

    Very inspiring. I'm blessed by your experience as shared and the truth you revealed, the simplicity expressed is what makes serving God beautiful not arrogating any self importance to oneself as a minister of the gospel other than making Christ the centre of attention, we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God and not of us. We are fragile and human at the end of the day. Thanks so much bro.

    ReplyDelete
  4. IsiJune 7, 2020 at 10:35 AM

    This is very thoughtful. God will continue to keep you and everyone in leadership positions.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. AnonymousJune 7, 2020 at 6:00 PM

      This is touching. Thanks to God for the Holy Spirit.

      Delete
    2. UnknownJune 7, 2020 at 6:24 PM

      Wa ooooohhh! This is Food for thought!!
      Indeed God's servants are called NOT to impress the congregation by concealing the realities of life's storms, BUT called to reveal the realities of a faithful and Almighty God who calms the storms of life.

      Delete
  5. AnonymousJune 9, 2020 at 10:31 PM

    Wow
    Fantastic stuff....a really great read

    ReplyDelete
  6. LizzyJune 11, 2020 at 12:03 PM

    This is great. I'm really blessed

    ReplyDelete

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