This, being my first ever blog entry, I will try to offer some counsel that will hopefully prove helpful, and somewhat frightening as you embark in ministry to the needy. Ministry demands proper respect. If you think you will simply begin to minister and change the lives of others and forge them without you yourself being shaped, molded, tried, tested, frustrated, and forged on the anvil of faith by the hammer of circumstance, you are sorely mistaken.
Caring for others, which is what ministry is, costs you something. Certainly it will demand your time, but it is much more than that. As you know (or don't if you have found this blog by accident) I care for my father-in-law who lives with my wife and I. He suffers from MS and requires a great deal of assistance. I am the primary provider of this assistance. All the lifting, cleaning up, bathroom issues, and modification of environment projects fall on my shoulders. Honestly, I often feel it is more than I can bear especially with so many other things on my plate (family, ministry, school, secular work, etc.). It is amazing to see God give me the grace to keep on when I want to give in. I love it when I get through a season of struggle and realize I have done so with joy rather than begrudgingly because of the presence and work of the Holy Spirit.
What I have learned through this prolonged trial is that you cannot, under any circumstances, quit caring. Once you have begin to care for another broken and needy human being (and we are all broken and needy), you cannot simply stop when it becomes inconvenient. You cannot dismiss them simply because you are tired. To do so will do far more damage to that wounded soul than you will have time to repair in your remaining years on this earth. The levels of caring and nurture, your ability to care and nurture to the need, and your distribution of self to the various needs in your life (family, friends, neighbors, work, school, other ministry areas, etc.) certainly will fluctuate as time marches on. How do you handle the demands? Simply be as faithful as you can be with right now and trust God with the outcome of the rest. What makes one a minister of the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ is not his "to do" list, but rather his heart for the well-being of others. You are called to ministry because God has forged your heart into the image of His own, conformed to the heart and mind of Christ. Our God is compassionate, merciful, and gracious to the point of sacrifice; so ought you be as His ambassador.
God's will is not in what you do, but rather in who you become. Minister out of who you are, and be open to allow God to continue to shape and mold and teach you. If you were perfect already, God would have already called you Home. As it is you remain, and with work to do for His purpose and glory. To this you have been called. I commend you, and pray that God would begin to use you in the community of faith in mighty and powerful ways as He continues to forge you in mighty and powerful ways.
Michael
No comments:
Post a Comment