iShineInMinistry

James 1:4 (KJV)

But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.

I am not good at waiting for things to happen and right now I am about ready to throw a princess tantrum. I'm sure we all have those moments when we begin waiting nicely; but then as time continues to pass and nothing appears to change, we lose heart, get just the tiniest bit annoyed and wonder if God has decided to go to sleep on our boat (see Matthew 8:23-25).

Are you waiting for an answer to a prayer right now? Would you like to see your best friend get saved? Is your job situation making you a little less than joyful? Has that 10 pounds you have diligently tried to get rid of still lingering? There are so many things to wait for, so many reasons to just be over it (in our minds) because things are not going as fast as we hoped they would, but please do not give up yet.

The process of getting from point A to point B gives us so much insight on how the Lord is molding us into the women of God He plans for us to be. Those moments when all we want to do is go to sleep, eat a pint of mint chip ice cream or be done with our calling just happen to be pinnacle moments. We can choose to faint not and look for the things He is trying to show us. We can cry out to Him and ask for help and comfort. We can praise Him after we get that princess tantrum out of our system. He knows our thoughts, pains, joys and desires anyway, so we need not think He has no idea what we are thinking when we are sick of the situation we stand before.

Take some time alone with the Lord to let Him know that you need His help, wisdom, discernment, guidance and more faith to trust Him as you feel ready to give up and move on to something easier. He will help you let patience have its most perfect work, so you will not miss out on the amazing things He wants to show you through this process (and bless you abundantly once you get to the finish line of this season). Listen for His still small voice to direct your heart and your path. Let Him be your hope and strength. Do not be 'over it' yet...God is doing a work and you don't want to miss the finished product of it all!

Jeremiah 33:2-3 (NKJV)

“Thus says the Lord who made it, the Lord who formed it to establish it the Lord is His name: ‘Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know.’

What season in life are you 'over' right now? Will you cling to Jesus and trust His plans for your life? Will you allow Him to show you great and mighty things during this process?

2 Corinthians 3:18 (NKJV)

18 But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.

Jeremiah 12:2

You have planted them, yes, they have taken root;

They grow, yes, they bear fruit.

You are near in their mouth

But far from their mind.

We love when the people of God that we minister to seem to just 'get it' and do what is good in the sight of the Lord. They seem to understand the blessing of discipleship and want to get to that next level in their relationship with God. We do Bible studies, pray together and may even share similar interests or hobbies.

They love spending time and just having a close relationship...great things begin to happen in their lives and as they hear of our testimony, the joy from our hearts spreads; they want an amazing walk with God that grows more and more as they take steps in faith.

Somewhere along the lines of discipleship we must remind ourselves (and keep reminding ourselves) that the goal is and always will be to make disciples of Jesus. Might you be spending time with someone, pouring into their life and making them more into your image? Is the fruit they are bearing a mimic of the things they admire about you? Are they drawing closer to God? Are they turning into a clone of your walk with God? What fruit are they really bearing?

As we spend time ministering to and mentoring other ladies, we need to be careful that our heart's desire is always to make them draw closer to Jesus. Sometimes our pride can even get the best of us and we feel flattered to be thought of so highly; but we need to always search our hearts and let God reveal our motives when we are raising up ladies and being Titus 2 women. The best thing we can ever do in the lives if the people we serve and disciple is help them grow in faith as they walk with the Lord. Let us all remember this as we pray, encourage, counsel and bless the people we minister to...the best thing we can ever do is give them more of Jesus and let them bear true fruit as they grow in their faith.

John 15:1, 4 “I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.

What fruit are the ladies you disciple bearing? Have they become mirror images of your walk with the Lord? Are they bearing true fruit, abiding in Jesus? How can you be mindful of this as ladies admire your relationship with God, so that you always point them back to Him?

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!

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?