purpose

Acts 20:24 But my life is worth nothing unless I use it for doing the work assigned me by the Lord Jesus - the work of telling others the Good News about God's wonderful kindness & love.

I wonder if Paul ever got tired?

I know her got physically tired, but I wonder if he ever got tired of all the stuff that goes with ministry? There's the stuff like...
dealing with people,
keeping current,
coming up with fresh ideas,
being alert to trends,
tossing out stale concepts,
accomplishing the mundane,
organizing,
administrating,
answering the urgent,
going the second mile,
being patient,
remembering Rome wasn't built in a day,
persevering when ya just wanna chuck it,
not just living outside the box - but not having a box,
listening,
telling,
questing,
(did I menton being patient?)
getting up one more day to face it all again.

You know, things like that, & a thousand others.

I get tired sometimes. I have to remember that whenever I get tired, that usually means I'm trying to do whatever is at hand. In short, I'm trying to make ministry happen, rather than letting God make it happen. After all, He's the One Who led me into this. I'm in a servant role here, following His instructons.

I also think my tiredness comes when I start to be more concerned about the expectations of others. (Am I ever gonna be free of that?!) It usually presents itself as the "What if...?" statements I play in my head.

Well, what if all those things I play in my head happen?

Who's in charge here?

And if they did, Who's always gonna stick with ya?

And if I'm being obedient to the best of my ability, then Who is ultimately responsible for the outcome?

Then the "Yeah, but..." things start.

It usually sounds like this: "Yeah, but if _______ doesn't happen, then _______ will happen." (You can fill in the blanks as well as I can.)

I've got a million "Yeah, but's" I can come up with.

(Btw, I know where the "What if..." & the "Yeah, but..." all come from - the devil.)

I've just got to remember that I've got to just keep walking, keep moving forward, keep being who God wants me to be, & trust Him to use me, somehow.

I've also got to remember that things often don't turn out like I or other people think they should. God is very creative. He often accomplishes His purposes is some pretty cool, unique, or weird ways, And sometimes what looks like total failure to us looks like just the right thing at the right time in the right place to Him. He does see the BIG picture. We just see right now.

I guess the whole thing is about our success orientation here in America. Success = right alignment with God. And we're not just talking simple success - we're talking dog & pony show, hordes of people, crazy life kind of success. Sometimes seeming success has nothing to do with it. Sometimes it's just about being obedient.

(Share that nugget of truth in the "corporate world" of the church & see what the response ya get!)

Oh, well...

Sorry for the long-winded blog. Let me gather up the trumpery of my life, & get on with the journey.

I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.