By Janice Bowman
What exactly is a personal mentor some might want to know? The apostle Barnabas became a personal mentor to the younger less experienced apostle Mark. In other words Mark became Barnabas' student. The apostle Paul had some contention with Barnabas for wanting to take Mark with them on a missionary trip. Paul felt Mark wasn't ready to go with them because of an earlier act of immaturity by Mark. Paul wasn't called upon by GOD to personally mentor the young inexperienced Mark, but Barnabas was called upon to do that. Mentoring Mark was just as important to GOD as what PAUL had to do. There didn't need to be any contention between Barnabas or Paul concerning Mark; they just needed the understanding that one was to mentor Mark and one was to do something else. So Barnabas became a father in the LORD for the younger apostle Mark to learn from. There is nothing at all shameful about needing a mentor and teacher who will draw out from you the very best in you and Barnabas became that personal trainer for Mark as the apostle Paul became that personal trainer for Timothy. A personal mentor that is matched to you by the plan of GOD is meant to keep you accountable until that mentor is no longer needed. I believe the reason personal mentoring is almost non-existent in the church theses days is because many people do not want to be accountable to a personal trainer and a personal trainer must have the time and desire to take on the responsibility required to mentor someone. The match has to be made by GOD between two willing parties.
I had a personal mentor for many years and at times she had to correct me and keep me accountable. One day my personal mentor had a dream about me and in the dream she saw me wearing a wedding dress and she was putting the final touches on my dress. She was ironing out the wrinkles and seeing to all the fine details and making sure the dress was perfect on me. Soon after she had the dream she called me and said soon you will not need me any more and about six months later she died. She had spent over 20 years preparing me to fly on my own without her assistance. She was my closet friend, my own personal trainer, my mother in the spiritual realm and my closest confidant.
In other words, she had groomed me for over 20 years and then it was time for her to go home and be with Jesus. I knew the exact day she passed away and nobody told me of it. I felt her saying all is well, all is well with you now Jan. I cried, of course, because no one had invested more time in me than Pearl Meeks, who spent hours in prayer for me and counseling me and teaching me the word one on one. She was a treasure to me and made many deposits in me and many investments and I know today she is proud of me whether she lives on this earth or not. A part of her is in me. Her soul was knit with mine in the same way the soul of David was knit with Jonathan’s . A mentor is priceless; a mentor is a rare gift from God. Mark became all he was meant to be because a man called Barnabas stepped up to the plate and said son I am at your service. Watch me, learn from me. The result was what Paul once called unprofitable to him became a joy for him in his last days of life as he sent for Mark to come to him.
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