This year marks 50 years since I first began preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ. When I look at the picture of that 17-year-old young preacher boy standing beside the man I am today, I cannot help but wonder, if it were possible, what the older man would say to the younger one.

I think I would put my arm around him, much like the picture, smile and say, “Son, you have no idea what God is getting ready to do with your life.”

At 17, I thought I was beginning something. I never dreamed how many times God would change the assignment along the way.

I started as a preacher boy traveling with Evangelist Joe Boyd. I would later go to Bible College, become a Christian school teacher, a youth director, a music director, a Senior Pastor, a Children’s Pastor, a Children’s Evangelist and missionary, an author, and eventually a college professor teaching others some of the lessons God had taught me.

There were different titles, different churches, different towns, different responsibilities and different seasons. But looking back, I understand something today that I could not have understood at 17:

The assignment changed. The calling never did.

A Time for Every Purpose

Ecclesiastes 3:1 says,

“To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven.”

We often preach that verse at funerals or during difficult transitions, but it applies to ministry too. God never intended every season to last forever.

There was a season when I was supposed to teach. There was a season when I was supposed to pastor. There was a season when I was supposed to build a children’s ministry. There was a season when Cheryl and I were supposed to load trucks and trailers, drive thousands of miles, conduct Kidz Storms, camps, Vacation Bible Schools, mission trips and preach the Gospel wherever God opened a door.

And now there is another season.

I am slowing down.

That is harder to say than I thought it would be.

A Change of Pace, Not a Change of Purpose

For someone who has spent his life believing, “If nothing changes, nothing changes,” perhaps one of the final lessons God has for me is that sometimes I am the thing that has to change.

Retirement does not mean that I am retiring from serving Jesus. I don’t know how to do that. I will still preach when God opens the door. I will still serve in my home church. I will still teach, write, encourage younger preachers and missionaries, and do whatever my health and opportunities allow.

But the pace is changing.

And I have discovered that a change of pace is not a change of purpose.

What I Would Tell Him

If I could talk to that 17-year-old preacher, I would tell him, “Don’t be afraid when God changes your assignment.”

I would tell him not to measure God’s blessing by crowds, miles traveled, buildings filled, positions held or invitations received.

I would tell him there will be wonderful days—and some days when he will wonder if he heard God correctly.

I would tell him that some people he loves will disappoint him. Some will leave. Some will hurt him. But many others will walk into his life and become lifelong friends.

I would tell him to treasure his family. Ministry opportunities come and go. Children grow up. Parents grow older. Friends go to Heaven. Don’t become so busy doing the work of God that you fail to recognize the gifts of God standing beside you.

I would tell him that he is going to make mistakes. Lots of them! But God is bigger than his mistakes.

I would tell him to keep preaching the Book. Keep loving people. Keep telling children about Jesus. Keep going through every open door God provides.

And I would especially tell him this:

Don’t worry about how it all ends. Just be faithful in the season you’re in.

A Different Question

The 17-year-old me wanted to know what God was going to do with his life.

The older me has a different question:

“Lord, what do You want me to do with the season I have left?”

Maybe that is the word I would give to pastors, missionaries, teachers and ministry workers who are facing their own changing season. Your ministry may change. Your title may change. Your health may change. Your church may change. Your schedule may change.

But Jesus hasn’t changed.

Hebrews 13:8 says,

“Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.”

So when the season changes, don’t spend all your time mourning the season that ended.

Thank God for it. Learn from it. Celebrate it.

And then ask Him what He wants from the next one.

Finishing Well

After 50 years, I am learning that finishing well does not necessarily mean running as fast as you did when you started.

Sometimes finishing well simply means still walking faithfully in the direction God is leading.

And if that 17-year-old young preacher asked the older preacher, “Was it worth it?”

I think I would smile, put my arm around him and say:

“Every mile. Every tear. Every sermon. Every child. Every soul. Every season. Keep going, young man. God is going to be better to you than you could ever imagine.”

And then I would tell him one more thing:

“Heaven will tell the story.”