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Most of us are figuring this out as we go.
Have you ever felt like you were way over your head with some aspect of technical ministry? Like you were so far out of your league that you had no idea whatsoever how to do whatever was being asked of you?
Whether it’s taking over a technical discipline outside your expertise after a leader stepped down, or helping start a new technical initiative, or even just figuring out how to confidently speak in front of a group and lead a pre-service meeting, chances are that most of us have found ourselves in a situation where we had never been and had to figure it out as we went.
If that feels familiar, join the long list of people who have learned on the job how to do ministry, whether technical or otherwise.
Trust grows when you stop trying to carry what was never yours.
In fact, most of the “saints” in the Bible were just regular people given a divine calling, who God then equipped to fulfill the mantle of responsibility he’d given them (I’m sure you might have heard the cliche that “God doesn’t call the equipped, but equips the called”). I mean, if the Bible says that God sets everyone in positions of authority (even tech team leaders!) and has created all of us to do good works, then surely He has some sort of plan in mind for how to help me navigate the times I find myself floundering in the deep end of the pool, right?
Man, it sure would be great to know what that plan is sometimes, because being in over my head is tough!
When I was initially hired into full-time ministry, I knew two things: I had no idea what I was doing (because I had come from a different industry), and because of that, I had no way to take credit for anything I would be able to accomplish. The only thing that gave me a manner of peace was knowing that if God was opening a door for me to walk through, then He would ultimately equip me to do whatever it was that was in front of me.
I was forced to build a heavy reliance on God’s power to carry me through, day by day.
Now, that didn’t stop the overwhelming stress and anxiety I still felt at times. But it was a constant reminder that God had a plan when He asked me to do this.
Years later, I heard it put into words that I liked: since I knew there was no way I could take the credit for the good things that happened on my watch, there should also be no way that I took all the blame when bad things happened.
It was a way of finding emotional balance and understanding that, whether good or bad, outcomes didn’t necessarily rise and fall on my abilities alone. Yes, I was going to make mistakes, yes, I was going to get some stuff right, but ultimately it was God’s power that was going to be at work, and I was just a vessel for that.
I was reminded of this when I most recently read through the book of Nehemiah. He was a man of middle management (cupbearer), who was probably pretty secure in just churning through life until God placed a massive burden on his heart: a divine calling to return to Jerusalem to rebuild the city wall. Talk about being over your head with no training!
And as he undertook that God-appointed task, he was constantly faced with sources of stress, anxiety, and fear, interspersed amongst his moments of success and triumph. It was a swinging pendulum not unlike what any of us may encounter.
So how did he handle it? Author Tara-Leigh Cobble, in her book “The Bible Recap,” attributes it in part to confident humility, which is “when [you’re] not building yourself up or beating yourself up. Nehemiah walks in confident humility not because he’s awesome, but because he knows the source of his strength lies in the God who calls him and equips him.”
I can’t walk in confident humility in my calling if I become so focused on myself or my circumstances that I lose sight of the One who put me here in the first place.
Like Nehemiah, I must constantly seek God first in prayer for strength and guidance (Neh. 4:4, 4:9, 5:19, 6:9b) and count on Him to equip and prepare me for what is in front of me. Then, my confidence can be strengthened because it’s rooted in His provision and inspiration, and I allow myself to stay grounded and humble, knowing that my successes only serve to redirect attention and praise back to Him.
Even when things go sideways and fall apart, I don’t have to despair through that, because I know that God works all things together for the good (Rom. 8:28), and He’s still in control. He can use anything for His glory, and He can use my frail, failing, limited abilities and still use them to do amazing things. It’s a privilege to be over my head so He can use me to do great works!
So when things seem overwhelming, or feel like they’re crashing down all around, I shouldn’t stress or worry. Like Nehemiah, seek God first in prayer, keep doing the work, and trust that He will supernaturally equip you to do the thing in front of you. Like Paul says in Philippians 1:6, we can be “confident” that when God begins something, he’s going to complete it!
And if Nehemiah was able to rebuild a city’s wall in just 52 days, imagine what God can do through you in the tech booth!
