Do you ever feel like you are not making an impact? well, if not, give it some time and you will get there. we all do. you put in tons of time to students and staff and it seems that you are always behind. Behind in your work, your messages, the souls you should be winning for JC. I know, it is frustrating. but it takes time. and Cobb told me that it would take a lot more time than i even thought it would take. yes, there are the small victories, but to win the war you must go through a lot of battles. you will lose a lot of those battles. you will win a lot of them as well. however, the war is much longer and requires the big picture in mind. you cannot be a “small thinker” if you are going to impact others’ lives long term.
you need to start putting those ministry miles on your odometer. you have to keep going. there are going to be events that you do well, and of course the ones you will botch and totally jack up. both types are going to be beneficial. you have to lose to know how sweet it feels to win. you have to spend month, even years putting into someone or a group of peeps that does not turn out the way you would have hoped to understand what God means by perseverance. you have to oversleep because you are so exhausted from the previous four days of non-stop, sleep-deprived madness to know what it feels like to be a sixty-four year old man when in reality you are a college kid. you have to keep going.
you need to pray like mad for God to for understanding and reasoning for why you would spend your college years learning stuff that you thought you would never use, only to find out years later that it was part of making your foundation and philosophy of ministry. you need to wear out your shoes playing football on Thanksgiving Day for the annual Turkey Bowl, knowing that someone will inevitably get hurt and it will be your fault. you need to rip perfectly good clothing at camps because some JH boy thinks that you are a rag doll, knowing he out-weighs you by forty pounds.
Wear out your clothes, shoes, vehicle, personal stuff... and you will ensure you will never wear out your welcome. put others before yourself and know that you have to put the miles on. and when your shoes are so worn out that you have to replace them you will know that you are making an impact. it is the wear and tear on your life and ministry that will prove that you are doing what you are supposed to be doing. God is faithful, you only need to rise to the occasion and make a difference within that goodness. your ministry is counting on you to make the difference.
when you feel like you are at the end of your rope, give a little more. spend more time with your mentors, replenish your energy and fill your tank. you know that your ministry is going to take a lot out of you, so be ready for it. plan for it. walk the miles. put in the time and you will always know where you are on this crazy journey. and when it is time to walk a new path within your calling to ministry... you will be ready.
No comments:
Post a Comment