Children, Young men, and Fathers

“I am writing to you, little children, because your sins have been forgiven you for His name’s sake. I am writing to you, fathers, because you know Him who has been from the beginning. I am writing to you, young men, because you have overcome the evil one. I have written to you, children, because you know the Father. I have written to you, fathers, because you know Him who has been from the beginning. I have written to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the evil one” (I John 2:12–14).

I was ordained into the Gospel ministry in January 1977 at 25 years of age. In my early 30s, while pastoring in Moab, Utah, God brought three seasoned ministers into my life. Each of them was in his 80s, and together they represented more than 150 years of ministry experience. They were Leonard Ravenhill, British evangelist and revivalist; Pastor Elbert Hatley of the Pentecostal Church of God; and Pastor George Drake of the Church of the Nazarene. To me, these men represented the fathers identified in the passage quoted above.

In this passage, the Apostle John identifies three stages of Christian growth: children, young men, and fathers. Though he mentions children and young men twice, his statements about them are different. Regarding the fathers, however, he makes two statements, and they are the same: “I have written to you, fathers, because you know Him who has been from the beginning.”

What stood out to me about Leonard, Elbert, and George—these three fathers of the faith—was that they were at peace with God and with themselves. This abiding peace came from knowing God. They had all been through the ups and downs of ministry and had found God faithful at every turn. Therefore, in their 80s, they were truly at rest in the arms of the Savior whom they had faithfully served for so many years.

These men were a real enigma to me. I was still in my early years of ministry, striving and straining to be what I thought God wanted me to be and to do what I thought God wanted me to do. The peace that permeated the lives of these three men disarmed me. Yet, deep inside, I longed for the day when I too would know that peace. I longed for the day when I, too, from a storehouse of life experience, could pass on to other young ministers the wisdom I had learned over the years.

Today, I find myself walking in their shoes. Next week, I will celebrate my 75th birthday. Fifty of those 75 years have been spent in the service of my Lord Jesus and His Church. Today, I believe I am beginning to understand what emanated from the lives of my three friends: a peace and contentment that comes from walking with—and coming to know—the God I have walked with since January 1972.

He has never let me down. He has never forsaken me. He has been at my side on the mountaintops and through the darkest valleys. Today, I know that I can trust Him because He indeed has my best interests at heart.

One day, I questioned George Drake about the peace of God that permeated his life. He said to me, “Brother Wayne, I’ve learned not to sweat the small stuff. And when I look back over my shoulder, most of what caused me angst and concern in the past was small stuff.”

Isn’t it funny how most of the things over which we fret are things we have no power to change? So, instead of carrying these unsolvable burdens, we learn to trust them into the hands of God.

I just finished listening to the song “His Eye Is on the Sparrow,” sung by the incomparable Ethel Waters. “Why should I feel discouraged? Why should the shadows fall? I sing because I’m happy, I sing because I’m free, for His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me.” There is the source of my peace! My life is hidden with Christ in God (Colossians 3:3). Nothing can touch my life without His permission, for His glory and my ultimate good.

So now, instead of fighting God at every unexpected turn of events in my life, I can rest in the knowledge that God has allowed this time, this event, this mountaintop, or this valley. He is in control; therefore, I can rest in His arms and in His sovereign will for my life.

The peace that I experienced in Leonard, Elbert, and George is a peace that I am now beginning to experience. Along with that, God is giving me many opportunities to share what I have learned along the way with young men who are growing in Christ. God is so very good! God is so very faithful!