Skip to main content

Staying in God's Will

 

I have been overwhelmed lately with just so much to do and feeling like life is out of control. I have been sitting with God, trying to find out what I need to stop and what I need to keep doing; asking him what his purpose is for me in this season.

Currently we have no Children’s Ministry leader and as a past leader I am one of two people who volunteered to take Kid’s Church in the meantime, just to keep it going. That was about a year ago. It’s possible that I might be asked to formally take responsibility for Children’s Ministry again, and I know I just do not have the energy (or the time) to do this. I spent time in prayer, knowing that if it was God’s purpose for me, then he would give me the energy and I would find the time.  My answer was confirmed from two different sources; God wants me to help with the children on a roster but not to take on the full responsibility and he wants me to continue with my writing, which is difficult when I am spending my time preparing lessons and other activities for the children.

It occurs to me that too often we can feel guilty about a need in the church so volunteer to fill that need, when it is not God’s will for us. It can be exhausting. Sometimes God has been prompting someone to stand up to fill the gap, but if we fill it then they don’t feel they need to. Sometimes God has finished a season of ministry or is having a season without it until the appropriate leader is sent. We can learn so much through these seasons of waiting. We need to trust God’s timing and not circumvent his plan with good intentions or self-guilt. So, I have a meeting with my pastors tomorrow. If they ask me to take it on full responsibility for Children’s Ministry, I will be saying ‘no’ and will feel such peace knowing I am in line with God’s will for me.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Planting Seeds

  Carrying on from last week, I was wondering how I am sowing seeds. I realised that we can all sow seeds everywhere we go. I don’t go out that often actually, I don’t belong to any secular groups but I can still be responsive to the leading of the Holy Spirit. Under his leading I made a determined effort to get to know the names of all the staff at my two favourite cafés that I visit at least weekly. I ask about their families; I support where I can. My friends and I find opportunities to give them all a little gift of chocolate and a card with a verse of scripture written on it. They all know we are Christians. I guess that might be called planting seeds. I converse with the supermarket checkout operators just to have a chance to bring a blessing to them. Some of them now know I am a Christian. I can easily bring God into conversations with unsaved family members, neighbours and strangers I stop and talk to in the park—with the leading of the Holy Spirit. I do not adopt a heavy...

The Importance of Unity

  What do you do when you think the Pastor or Senior Leadership Team have got it wrong! A friend was recently talking about a decision made by our Senior Leadership Team (SLT) including the Pastor. We are a small church community, so decisions affect every member there. However, unless directly involved in a programme or initiative the SLT do not know how a decision they make might impact on the on-the-ground day-to-day running of that programme or initiative. It is important to talk to those involved to get their perspective and even in a small church this might not necessarily happen. Having said that, our SLT are generally very good at consulting. So, what do you do if you think it’s an unwise decision? This will of course depend on size of the church, whether the Pastor is a good listener and is prepared to talk about it and I’m sure, many other factors. My perspective is that I do not want to be talking about the Pastor behind his back. I do not want to gossip about him ...

Meeting in Fellowship

  This morning we had one of our fortnightly women’s meetings, called WOF! No, not Warrant of Fitness, although we could all do with a Warrant of Fitness from time to time to see how our spiritual walk is going. It stands for Women of Fellowship. We start with a hot drink and some home baking to eat, with some fruit for those who seek to be a little healthier. Then our leader, one of our pastors, introduces the morning. Following that there is something different each week. We have had a ‘spiritual kit’ handed to us and a discussion of each object, we had a morning to bring something special and show each other while telling the story of why it was special, there may be a speaker or a craft. This morning there was a word game and we each received a journal with encouragement to start a prayer journal. Now I am definitely not a ‘game’ or a ‘craft’ person so those times can seem a little boring to me. However, there is always good fellowship and an opportunity to get to know another ...