iShineInMinistry

Luke 12:48

…For everyone to whom much is given, from him much will be required…

I don’t know about you, but I find that I have a very ‘active’ (translation busy) life. There are so many tasks, commitments, duties, chores and assignments that seem to come from every direction. I am sure you feel the same way. We are working, serving, living, running errands, helping others, taking calls, praying with friends in need, going on tea dates to encourage someone, the list can keep going! These are all great things to be doing and of course we love blessing others and keeping our lives ordered since God is a God of order. But, do you ever look around and feel like you are moving in fast forward compared to everyone else? Do you sometimes wonder, “How come everyone else seems to have less things going on?”

We never want to be playing the comparison game, but when the same people we notice have less also observe and ask why we are ALWAYS SO BUSY, we do begin to wonder. It may seem overwhelming at times, or we may want to take some things off of our plates; nevertheless, we know God has specifically called us to those things, so it would be disobedient to get rid of things just for the sake of doing less. God is the one who is equipping us to do the multitude of tasks and ministries that are set before us, so we need to answer the call and get to it!

Think of it this way, God seems to have gifted us in some unique ways, now we get to be used for His glory, as humble vessels, ones that get to serve others and encourage the body! We are allowed to be one of the members of the body of Christ that works with all of the other parts to make His perfect plan come to pass. Yes, we may hit the pillow quite hard at the end of the day after getting to do so many wonderful things; but we would much rather be tired from doing the things God has called us to than other meaningless, trivial things in life. What a blessing to be used by the Lord, have the opportunity to serve Him, then be able to lead by example and trust that God is going to show up as He calls us to do the work of the ministry!

Galatians 6:9

And let us not grow weary while doing good…

Do you feel like you have much more to do as you serve the Lord? Do you feel honored that God would allow you to be part of so many things for His glory? Be blessed that He doesn’t need us for His plan, but is kind and gracious enough to let us receive gifts and use them for His glory!

Proverbs 19:21 There are many plans in a man’s heart, Nevertheless the Lord’s counsel—that will stand.

Chances are if you are a woman in full-time ministry you may exhibit the Spiritual Gift of Administration. You can plan, put together, make things lovely and be as efficient as a multi-million dollar party planning corporation! You can make center pieces, order all logistics and still manage to allow God to speak words to you to put a teaching together. Since planning could basically be your middle name, it comes as no surprise that you may sometimes get a little too detailed and possibly leave little or no room for the Holy Spirit to become part of your itinerary.

Of course we would not say something like that outright; but we may start to look at the clock, as the worship leader feels led to pray and sing one more song that the Lord just laid on her heart. Or, we may want to redirect that new lady in our Bible study group that seems to have gone off on a rabbit trail because she is fretting about a major trial happening in her household. What if that song is the song that God uses when a wayward wife wants to rededicate her life to Jesus? What if we took the time to stop and pray for the frantic lady that seems to have gotten off track of question number four? What if we know that we have a schedule that God has shown us, but we are willing to allow Him to ultimately be in control of all aspects of the ministry?

As we get seasoned in doing things well (praise the Lord for the giftings He gives) we have to remember that the One who has blessed us with these gifts is the one who is truly in control of that study He led us to start or that outreach He gave us the vision to put on during the summer. God has so many ways He wants to intricately and intimately speak to His people, including you and me. So, let’s place our plans before God, put the clipboard (or iPad) down and allow Him to make the most of these moments of ministry He so graciously allows us to have as we serve Him.

Jeremiah 33:3- ‘Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know.’

When God gives you the vision to put something together, do you take it and run without leaving room for Him to work? Will you pray over your gift of planning and ask the Lord to show up in the events, ministries and Bible studies He has given you to lead?

Ecclesiastes 3:1

To everything there is a season,
 A time for every purpose under heaven

God blesses us abundantly with wonderful seasons of ministry that allow us to truly put the great commission to work in our everyday lives. We can be leading Bible studies, serving as the room mom in our child’s class, holding girls’ discipleship classes, taking short term mission trips or organizing weekly outreaches to the homeless…the possibilities are always endless with God! One thing that we can be certain of is that God can work through any event, teaching or ladies’ tea to speak truth and life into His people and bring others into His kingdom. The thing we can’t be certain of is if we will always be in the positions that we currently hold to be able to share God’s love.

We all have seasons of life, some may seem more full or important than others. We love the times when God calls us to lead, to be that prayer warrior or to head up that committee for Children’s Ministry. While we do love these chances to serve and put Spiritual Gifts to use, we have to also be excited to trust and obey when God tells us that season of ministry is coming to an end. Although we may not know what the reason is, we can trust that God’s ways are better than our ways.

You may be in a ministry that you have served in for weeks, months, years or even decades! You love it so much, or maybe you don’t- but you are just so used to doing it you cannot see yourself doing anything else. God may be getting ready to bring you to a different season of ministry. He may be raising up someone that you have so lovingly discipled over the years, or He may just be saying you need a season of rest alone with Him. No matter what the case, we need to be ready to listen and get out of the way of what the Lord is doing in our lives and the lives of people around us. As God tells us to move out or move on, we know that He has a greater plan, bigger than any of us and more amazing than anything we can imagine because it will ultimately be for His glory. Trust, pray, believe and step down if God is showing you this step of faith to take. The only place better to be than serving God faithfully is in His perfect will and if it is time to move on, let go and let God!

Isaiah 43:19

Behold, I will do a new thing, Now it shall spring forth; Shall you not know it?

Have you been serving in a ministry for an extended amount of time and it may be time to step down? Are you desperately holding on to a title, a ministry or a position and you know that God has shown you that it is time for a new season or a new ministry (or a rest)? Allow God to help you transition to the new phase He is showing you and trust that He will be able to guide you through this new step of faith.

Joshua 24:15 ?...choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve...But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”

We all have day-to-day, moment-to-moment decisions that have to made in our lives and sometimes our plans seem so small and insignificant. Even in what appears to be a small choice, we can open a door to allow other decisions to become easier, both good and bad. As we conclude what we are going to do with our lives, we absolutely have to make our decision to follow Jesus top priority; if not, we open the floodgates for small changes that morph into compromise, which then redirect us and can potentially get us out of God's will and on a downward slope to backsliding- we sometimes even fool ourselves!

We all know our weak spots- for some (like me) it could be coveting pretty things, for a single girl hoping for marriage it could be attention from guys (whether or not they are saved), for another girl binge eating could be the issue; or you can have other temptations that are easier to hide such as impure thoughts, thinking highly of yourself without outwardly voicing it (but it's seen in your actions) or being self-centered. I think each of these issues can really go back to being focused fully on self. This is why we have to completely decide to follow Christ. If we don't, we will forego the opportunities to die to ourselves and then skew our self-absorbed actions and little by little trick ourselves into thinking we are still godly and doing godly things.

We can pick out the things to do as our reasonable service that we prefer rather than presenting ourselves fully as a living sacrifice. We can be bossy leaders that pretend we are serving when we are in fact just telling others to do what we should be doing ourselves. We can love the giftings God has graciously blessed us with to the point where we stop even thanking Him for what He has done in our lives and take the credit for ourselves! There is no way to be a light with this kind of insincere heart...which is why we must decide.

We need to decide to give all of ourselves to Jesus; not just 30%, 70% or 92%, but all of our hearts no matter what the cost or where it takes us. We must decide that Christ lives in us and we have been crucified. We can't do this easy, breezy, cookie-cutter Christian girl facade and expect the lives in our sphere of influence to be encouraged as we only pick the 'fun parts' of our faith. We need to decide to fully follow God, to serve Him with all we have, without making excuses in those areas we may struggle in and be the salt of the earth and the light of the world. What will you decide?

Do you only choose to serve in ways you prefer? Do you only decide to follow God in similar ways that your friends follow Him? If you were the only Christian in your home or workplace, would you fully decide to follow Him or just go with what everyone else does? Do you allow a little extra compromise in those areas where you struggle a little more?

Romans 12:1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.

Galatians 2:20 I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.

Proverbs 3:1 NKJV

...do not forget my law,

But let your heart keep my commands;

Teaching, encouraging, exhorting and counseling all seem to be part of the day to day life of a woman called to serve in full-time ministry. There are those days that are absolutely amazing, as God reveals a new truth to someone and they get to walk in the fullness of their relationship with the Lord. Other times, there are moments when intercession needs to increase for that one that just can't seem to stay consistent in their walk. Sometimes those cases feel discouraging and possibly draining, but the truth that we can give to help those ladies along is to remember what they already know.

This seems pretty obvious and a little elementary, but we learn by repetition. Through that repetition, an attitude of humility and a heart that starts to soften then become teachable, God allows what things we know to be true to get us slowly back to the place where we belong.

Proverbs 7:2-3 NKJV

Keep my commands and live...

Bind them on your fingers;

Write them on the tablet of your heart.

Those words from the one who so loved remind us that God always has our best interests in mind. Of course the best plan for us is to keep His commands and hold them close to us because that is how we truly live. The moments of weakness that come in the many lives we minister to will need to cling to scriptures that remind her of how God has the best idea for her life. I know we may sound like a broken record, or feel like we may be tuned out, but we also know that God's word will not return void.

Be steadfast in the calling that God has given you as He places women in your life to encourage, love on and gently redirect to His loving arms. Help them to be reminded of what they know when the enemy tells them they have fallen too far, or slipped out of the hands of God. Pray with them and pray scripture over them so they can be reminded of His promises and commands that help them to live. Exhort them to hold fast to those things which they know to be true and remind them that the same God that died on the cross for those sins they are struggling with right now is ready to help them get back on track.

Psalms 86:5 NKJV

For You, Lord, are good, and ready to forgive,

And abundant in mercy to all those who call upon You.

Are you currently counseling someone struggling with habitual sin? What commands of God can you gently remind them of? What promises can you also place with those commands? How can you lovingly help them as they are struggling? Ask the Lord to show you what scriptures you can commit to memory with them in this process.