You being obedient to the leading of the Holy Spirit and showing up where He wants you to be could be someone’s miracle.
One of the prayer ministers at our Ministers Conference relayed this testimony from a pastor in Ecuador who was ready to give up and quit their ministry. This amazing testimony will bless you!
Lord, I can’t go on. I just can’t do this anymore. It’s been so hard for so long. I quit! Today is Sunday and unless You send me a miracle, I am resigning as Senior Pastor on Monday.
Those were the words of Elena, pastor of an established church in Salinas, Ecuador. She went on to say:
I arrived at church that Sunday as usual… distraught, despondent and defeated… but, of course, I couldn’t show it. No one knew about my decision to quit the ministry, not even my husband.
Let’s pause in this story to ask you, have you ever felt discouraged? Burdened with the care of the Church… Ready To Quit?
You’re not alone. A recent BARNA study shows 1500 pastors a month leave the ministry. 70% are so stressed or burnt out, they regularly feel like quitting: and 35-40% do quit. Being a Pastor makes you a target for the enemy. He is out to kill, steal and destroy the work of God in your life!
But God does “miracles” for Pastors, as you are about to see.
Let’s return to this testimony.
Pastor Elena continued:
Thankfully, I didn’t have to preach that Sunday, because a Mission Team of Charis Bible College students from Colorado were visiting, and they were doing the entire Sunday service. At the close, the CBC Mission Team asked our congregation to come up and receive prayer for any need they had. I watched as person after person was instantly healed.
As I took all this in, one of the CBC Prayer Ministers came to me and asked if she could pray for me. I was shocked! No one had ever asked to pray for me before. I was always the one doing the ministering. Without a moment of hesitation, the word ‘Yes’ came out of my mouth.
The student said, ‘What would you like Jesus to do for you?’ All I could say was, ‘I need lots of help.’
She prayed in tongues briefly, and then said ‘Fire of the Holy Spirit Come!’… And I dropped to the floor like a stone.
I don’t know how long I lay there, but when I arose, everything had changed! All my burdens were gone! I was laughing and crying at the same time. No more pain. I felt Joy. I felt Peace. I felt LOVED as never before!
After the CBC Team finished praying for everyone, I said to them, ‘This morning, I told God I was quitting the ministry unless He gave me a miracle… Your CBC Missions Team are my miracle!’
Later that week, Pastor Elena and her husband attended a Pastors Conference in Ecuador where the CBC Mission Team was ministering. Pastor Elena told the woman who had prayed for her:
The miracle that began Sunday has continued to expand all week! On Monday, we received a large unexpected check in the mail, relieving financial burdens. On Tuesday, my college-bound daughter, job-hunting without success, got an excellent job that covers the cost for new clothes and all her personal needs for college (which we did not have the money to pay for). Then my teenage son, who had been mocking me and his father for serving God, apologized. He had seen the changes in me and these sudden financial blessings, and he said, ‘OK, mama, OK…I see and I believe. God is good!’