iShineInMinistry

Psalm 139:23

Search me, O God, and know my heart…

God always has a purpose and a plan to reach the people on this planet and tell them how He so loved the world. It’s amazing to hear ‘God stories’ about how the Lord met people in the midst of their situation and allowed them to receive the gift of salvation. As women in full-time ministry these wonderful stories of salvation get recounted to us on an often basis and we have the blessing of being part of people’s growth as they walk with Jesus. We see miracles in action, see people encouraged and see reasons for angels to rejoice in heaven as people give their lives to the Lord. What an amazing way to spend our lives and our ‘work hours’!

We must not lose the excitement and joy that comes with working in full-time ministry as we labor in love. Sometimes the nights may get late, the phone calls may come at inconvenient times, or we just want be able to spend time with the Lord ourselves and this may not always be able to happen on the timetable we prefer. Full-time ministry is no 9 to 5, clock-in and clock-out kind of job. There is always an opportunity to serve so we need to be ready in season and out of season. We also need to have the right heart motivations as we serve.

Are you starting to feel apathetic? Is someone getting saved in a worship service not as exciting as it used to be? Are you looking at your watch during staff prayer wondering if the time is almost over so you can get other things done? What motivates you to serve the people of God? Are you still obediently walking in your calling or just staying in this comfort zone because you know how to play the part to still receive a paycheck? Let’s always make sure to check our hearts, motivations and attitudes if we begin to notice a difference in our reactions to things that once brought us joy. Make sure to stay prayed up so we are not running in our own strength. We also need to remember to not act perfect and to ask a close friend in the ministry to keep us accountable so that we don’t fall into a slump of burnout and indifference.

We are called for such a time as this in this moment and in this generation to be disciples of Jesus. Let us each remember to take this calling seriously and do all with a pure heart in a way that is pleasing to God.

Psalm 51:10

Create in me a clean heart, O God,


And renew a steadfast spirit within me

What is the desire of your heart for the ministry you lead? Are you still blessed by all the things God continually shows you as you serve Him or is it just the ‘same old thing’ to you? Ask God to search you, refresh you and guard your heart and mind.

Proverbs 16:3

Commit your works to the Lord,

And your thoughts will be established.

Sometimes we come up with these grand ideas that seem so wonderful and then as we begin the process of having them play out, a cloud of "ew" covers our happy demeanor. We think that something is going to turn out one way and we play out all the fabulous possibilities that could occur in our mind; however, once we enter the midst of this 'wonderful plan' and we get bored, annoyed, exhausted or just decide we are not having a good time we think to ourselves, "Why did I want to do this?"

Sometimes the best laid plans don't quite turn out how we pictured when we thought up our perfect scenario. Small details fall through the cracks, someone that offers to help flakes out unexpectantly, your attitude in the middle of the situation goes south and you need to be reminded why you wanted to do these things in the first place.

At these moments we need to surrender our plans, hopes and disappointment to the Lord and allow Him to show us what we need to see in the middle of this situation. Somehow even in the center of the 'not so great' things, God allows us to find a little glimmer of hope that will help us see things in another perspective. Even though it doesn't work out the way we wanted when we thought through the great plans, God will make it all work out in the end for His perfect will.

Romans 8:28

And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.

Have recent things happened to you as you've planned and prepared for life? How do you resolve in your heart and mind to allow God to work all things out for good?

Matthew 5:37 But let your “Yes’ be ‘Yes’ and your ‘No,’ ‘No.’…

The life of a woman that loves to serve the Lord is filled with wonderful opportunities to be a blessing to people in the body of Christ. Whether you are a listening ear, a memory verse teacher at VBS or a prayer warrior interceding for those in need, you get to be a vessel where God’s love shines through on an often basis. We all know that women in general sometimes have a hard time declining requests to be a help to the people we call friends, neighbors and church family; nevertheless, God made the word ‘no’ for a reason and sometimes we just have to put it to use!

Since we as women are helpers naturally, it is in our make-up to just want to step in and assist with things as the need arises. “Can you lead this Bible study group?” “Are you able to serve in Children’s Ministry this week?” “Will you be singing in the Christmas Choir?” “Can you provide a benevolence meal for a family please?” The list of opportunities to serve goes on and on. For some reason, we think we are supposed to say yes to every single request that comes our way. Sometimes we don’t even pray about it or we feel God prick us in the heart specifically to pass this chance up and we agree to do the task anyway. Now, while we may be doing great things that are godly, when the Lord specifically tells us ‘not this time’ and we say yes anyway, we are being disobedient. That was not our spot to fill; we are potentially stealing someone else’s blessing and simultaneously giving the opportunity for pride to rise up as we feel that “everyone just needs us!”

Galatians 1:10 (ESV) asks the question that we should inquire of ourselves in those moments of not allowing our no to have a chance to be a no.

“For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ.

We really need to check our hearts and make the decision to be pleasers of God when we are saying yes to too many things and allowing our task lists to pile up. Not only do we lose our focus and the point of serving, but we then give the enemy the chance to sneak in during our potential pride, potential weariness during burnout or potential bitterness towards those who may not be doing as much (according to our standards). Please remember when you serve the Lord to do it with gladness, to do it with a prayerful heart and do it with a heart to serve God and say ‘no’ as He leads. When we do this, we will do all the things we are truly called to do with our whole hearts and we will be so much more useful for His kingdom!

Colossians 3:23 (NKJV) And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward…

Psalm 55:22

Cast your burden on the Lord,

And He shall sustain you...

Have you ever had one of those moments where if one more thing gets added to your "life list" you will literally combust? You are the 'go-to girl' for so many people that call you friend or trust you with sensitive information. You are the favorite cousin, aunt, youth leader, teacher (or whatever you are) that everyone loves to get prayer with and talk to Jesus about. You are working, volunteering, helping people in need, cleaning, trying to stay healthy and somewhere in all of that trying to find time to sleep or just have 10 minutes to yourself to regroup. You seem to have so many things in order and people love to be around you and tell you about all of their struggles. Your desire to lift them up in prayer and be a blessing to those around you has almost allowed you to conclude that your problems are menial and don't really need as much attention...so you just keep going!

This is a horrible trap to fall into in your walk with the Lord. Once you get to this place, you focus so much on everything and everyone else that you forget that your cares and burdens are also important to God; He wants to help and bless you as much as the ones He allows you to help in ministry. Once you get in this place, it becomes a conundrum of mayhem, where you are busy all the time, helping all the time, working all the time and draining yourself to oblivion. While it's great to be using the gifts that God has given you, you must also take time to restore the temple God has given you to use for His glory. Otherwise, you will be rendered useless for His kingdom and that is not what He wants for you.

Let's take the time to really balance out our lives so that we can fully do all to the glory of God. He will then be the one to sustain us as we go from moment to moment and we won't get to those places of total burn out. We must be diligent in each area of our lives, including times of rest and renewing our minds. We also need to tend to the areas of our own lives that need lifting up.

Don't add anything else to your overflowing plate until you cast you burdens on the Lord and allow Him to help you put it all into perspective. Ask God to search your heart and also help you in the areas where you struggle. Find your 'go-to girl' that can pray with you in these times and help you monitor when you may be doing too much.

As you trust Him with everything in your life and the lives of those around you, He will give you order in all of the chaos, bring all things to pass and give you a little bit of downtime to rest in the midst of it all!

Matthew 11:28

Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

Do you feel like you can't do one more thing? Are you completely overwhelmed? Every area of our life should be an act of worship to God, including times of rest because He wants us to have those times. How can you better balance so that He will sustain you and help to prevent those times of burnout? Pray about it...

Philippians 4:6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; On Wednesday night I couldn’t sleep.

On Thursday I was having crying fits. On Friday I lost my brunch (twice) while out with a friend. On Saturday, I had a nosebleed. After reflecting on all the stress-induced ailments I encountered this week, I concluded that I needed rest and I needed to CALM DOWN!

I think we get too frantic in ministry sometimes and begin to make ourselves crazy as we try to serve Him. We have the heart to do all unto the glory of the Lord, but our bodies remind us that we really are only human. We can’t get 72 hours worth of tasks completed in 24 hours and that is just a fact. Yet time and time again we want to make sure that everything is completed and that nothing falls through the cracks in the myriad of things involved with full-time ministry. Then our bodies go on strike and we are rendered useless anyway, drained, distraught and feeling dismayed.

Psalm 4:8 I will both lie down in peace, and sleep; For You alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety.

Sometimes I think that we think we are being lazy when we have the nerve to get rest, knowing that we have not finished all of the things that cluttered our to-do list. It is biblical to rest and we need to be renewed each night so we can be diligent in the work of the ministry with happy, joyful hearts. I should have known that I needed to stop at day two, yet I had to get all the way to day four before I really sat back and realized what my body had been furiously telling me for the past few days. I hope to not let myself get to this point again before I decide to sit still; but I know that even in those times God will be faithful to speak to my heart and minister to me even in the busyness and mayhem. Then He will gently remind me it’s time for a time-out and that I need to sit still and calm down.

Psalm 46:10 Be still and know that I am God;

Are you stressed and feeling like you just can’t get everything done? Do you need rest and time to just sit before the Lord? How will you carve that time out today?