Marching Through Setbacks to Serve God

As his serving responsibilities at Saddleback Church increased, Ryan found his life interrupted by unexpected incidents and unexplainable troubles. During the last year, Ryan’s life has been full of nothing but chaos.

In May 2018, Ryan was serving in multiple ministries at Saddleback Irvine North, and he was planning to participate in a PEACE Trip to Tokyo. Ryan also began taking home the church laptop to download and prepare songs for weekend services. This was a serious responsibility — as this was the main laptop for services. Taking on this responsibility also seemed to spark a series of events in which Ryan’s faith would be tested.

The first time Ryan took the laptop home, he learned that the rear bumper of his car had been severely damaged overnight. Since the person who caused the accident did not leave a note, Ryan’s insurance had to pay for the accident.

That same day, Ryan’s online bank account was hacked. Someone pretending to be Ryan called the bank and managed to reset the account’s password. They initiated a wire transfer on the same day. Luckily, Ryan was alerted of the transfer through text message, and he called the bank to close his online bank account.

A month and a half later, in June, Ryan took his car to the car wash. During the cleaning process, his rearview mirror fell off his car. Apparently, a connector had worn down, and his entire windshield needed to be replaced. While the dealership assured Ryan that this was an unusual case, the sad truth was that he still had to replace his windshield.

But despite his discouragement, Ryan found that the peace he needed, and the acceptance, direction, and courage he sought, were found by staying close to Christ.  

During Ryan’s Tokyo PEACE trip, everything went smoothly. The entire church was encouraged to pray for them. He felt the prayers had really made a difference.

When he returned to the United States, Ryan again learned that God’s presence is what every person who is facing discouragement needs. Two weeks after the PEACE trip, while driving to work, a five-gallon bucket fell off a truck swerved into his lane. Unable to avoid it, the bucket damaged his front bumper, again requiring a costly repair. On the very same day, his bank called him and told him there were fraudulent charges on his credit card. He had to replace his credit card.

Two months later, again while driving to work, Ryan prepared to change lanes on the freeway. He checked his side mirror and looked over his shoulder when changing lanes. When he looked forward, the car in front of him had suddenly stopped. He hit the car, causing $11,000 in damage between both vehicles. He later found out the reason the car in front of him had stopped suddenly was due to a large piece of wood on the freeway.  

Ryan was in his life’s lowest valley. The car accidents were expensive and the financial online hackings were emotionally draining. These repeated incidents completely wore Ryan out. It was time consuming and disheartening to take time off to repair his car, obtain rental cars, deal with insurance companies, and stay on top of his busy full-time job and volunteer commitments.

Ryan felt sad, heavy-laden, and hopeless. Not only did he just want to quit all his serving positions, he wanted to stay home all the time. He did not feel like going to church at all. Marked by fatigue, he had reached the place where he wanted to quit — yet Ryan also sensed an urging from God to trust him in the face of these incredible trials.

That same month, Ryan attended a Saddleback event at the Rancho Capistrano campus, where he ran into the pastor who was on the PEACE trip with him. Ryan shared the details of his recent troubles with the pastor. Ryan asked the pastor to pray for his car, which was in the shop for repairs.

Ryan also told the pastor about the recent strange occurrences. The pastor asked to pray for Ryan instead and reminded him that as we trust God, he fills us with joy and peace until we overflow with hope. After praying together, Ryan felt that a big weight has been lifted off him. Spiritual attacks are real. We overcome them by keeping our hope rooted in Christ.

Ryan realized he can’t control life’s challenges, but peace comes by trusting God with the outcome. When hardship intersects with his faith, Ryan stays in the Word, persists in praying, and seeks community and fellowship with other believers.

After the weight-lifting prayer with his pastor, Ryan shared the adversity he experienced with others. Christian brothers and sisters continue to encourage him. Through prayers and studying God’s promises in the Bible, Ryan continues to serve at Saddleback. During the season when his faith was tested and discouragement set in, Ryan learned that by embracing the reality of his weakness, God strengthened him and opened up a way to continue to glorify him through service.

Learn more about serving at Saddleback at the next Class 301saddleback.com/class301

Learn more about PEACE atsaddleback.com/peace

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