Propped by grace
…but there is a God who is able to keep us from stumbling.
Ministry is service. It’s not fun.
If you’re in it for the title, the glam, or the hype, you’ll soon burn out and quit.
Even if you’re not there for any of that, you may burn out.
I guess the heart of service is what keeps one going. Not service to man as an end in itself, but service to God. You cannot serve man faithfully unless your faithfulness is tethered to God and rooted in the fear of Him.
These are not words from one who has got any of this figured out. I didn’t exactly choose this life, I’ll be honest. All I wanted was to wear fine clothes and to slay, with a sprinkle of Jesus here and there in my eloquent speech.
I still feel lost many times. I feel overwhelmed. I don’t want to be responsible for anyone else but myself. I want to show up once a week for evangelism, show up for church services, and retreat back into my own world.
Every day feels like the day I’ll finally quit being a “minister.” (As if I wasn’t already one before the church officially ordained me. As if every child of God is not already called to be a minister of the gospel.)
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But it’s been a little over a year since ordination and how I’m still here is a mystery.
That’s how I know that grace is a thing, that grace exists. If I look like I’m standing, God’s grace is all that is propping me.
If I look like I have my temper in check, if my voice and tone come out measured even after a provocation, if I look like I am navigating my singlehood well and managing sexual temptation, if I look like I have poise and charisma, it’s all grace. Because I know myself, and the me that I know scares me. My tendencies worry me.
But there is a God who is able to keep us from stumbling.
So today, I choose not to worry about how long I can bear this burden. Instead, I’ll trust God for His daily supply of grace I need to do what He requires of me. And I’ll glory in my weakness, knowing that in it His strength is made perfect.
I pray strength and grace to all my friends out there bearing the burden of Christ in ministry.
Steven. Temitope. Mary. Akorede. Favour. Peace. Salt… and others not mentioned here.
I also pray strength and grace to you my friends, brothers, and sisters in unordained ministry. All of you daily taking up your cross and following Jesus. All of you denying yourselves the pleasures of the flesh so that your life can signpost the gospel of Christ.
I love you and am rooting for you, just as Christ is rooting for us all. ❤️
