5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; 6 in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight. Prov. 3:5-6 (NIV)
28 And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, tothose who are called according to His purpose. Romans 8:28 (NASB)
When I am looking at a book that I might purchase I have a tendency to turn somewhere in the book and start reading. If what I read interest me I classify it as a good book and I might purchase it. However, if I am not impressed by what I read I will put the book down and go to the next. Surely along the way I have misjudged some books that would have been helpful to me simply because I only saw a small part of what the book was about. I am willing to admit that this is probably not the best way to search for a book; it’s just my way.
Many of us tend to take the same kind of philosophy when it comes to a ministry. We want to come in one week or attend one event and judge the effectiveness of the ministry on that event. Maybe as teachers or preachers we want to look at our last sermon or lesson and diagnose the health of our ministry based on its estimated effectiveness. When we take a small sample of the life of a ministry or look at one event we are doing that ministry a serious injustice. For us to understand the effectiveness of a ministry we must look at it over time. We must not look at sheer numbers but more so we must look at the impact it has in the lives of those who are being ministered to.
When looking at a ministry’s effectiveness we must also consider that ups and downs are a given. There will be times when the numbers are down or the message is dry. Maybe there will be a time of great struggle for the ministry to simply stay alive. We must not consider this a reason to abandon the ministry or give way to being distraught and disheartened. We must embrace God’s word and His wisdom and continue on when and where He leads us.
Think about this every year we go through four seasons: Spring, summer, fall, and winter. Spring brings us renewal and hope, summer brings us warmth and sunshine, fall brings us change, and winter brings us cold, darkness and ice. Sometimes we wake up in a ministry and we find ourselves in the midst of a great winter. The numbers are small, the desire seems low and we think of giving in or giving up. Winters can be tough; after all not much grows in winter. We must remind ourselves then, that even the deepest, darkest winter is followed by a beautiful spring of renewal.
If God has brought you to a ministry and you are obedient to Him, He will use you in a mighty way. Keep pushing on past despair and cling to Him. Do your very best and rely on Him and He will give the increase. One more thing… Never forget that He is always working, even when we cannot see it or perceive it!
