Ministry. Calling. Mission.
All words we use in our Christian environment. All pointing to the same question – what does God want you to do and are you doing it?
This past year I have served in Protestant Women of the Chapel (PWOC) as President of our installation. I have also stepped out more into something I have come to love – speaking/sharing at retreats, prayer breakfasts, meetings. Both roles have challenged me. Not in terms of could I do it or not, but in being a spiritual leader.
The logistics of these things do not bother me. I can write up talking points, organize boards, vision and plan for an organization. Those things are easy. The challenge? Am I saying and doing the things God would have me to? Am I Biblically sound in my teaching? Am I discerning enough to know when things are not as they should be spiritually in my organization and do I have enough courage to do something about it?
These are the questions.
I believe God has called me to these roles for this time, and hopefully allows me to continue to serve Him in leading others. I do love to tell people about Jesus. But insecurity haunts me, much like it does others at times. Am I doing well enough, am I discerning enough, what if I mess up somewhere? I have prayed over these things a lot lately. God has blessed me in walking through those questions.
He first asked me if I trust Him – and then He asked if I thought he was big enough. Big enough for what? Big enough to guide me in the ways He would have me to go and big enough to override/fix/use any mistakes I make to further His kingdom. As much as I would like to avoid it, I will mess up – and not just once. Is He big enough?
I recently read an article about Christian leadership. Apparently in American society, we believe as a group of believers that there is a lack of Christian leadership. I would agree. As the article points out, we would consider it a “crisis of leadership.”
I do believe we have a crisis, but not because we don’t have the resources. In the survey for the article, the most important trait Christians looked for in a leader was integrity. Notice, they were not looking for perfection. Crazy though, only 15% of those surveyed actually considered integrity as one of their personal leadership traits. Weird.
What I see in the survey and in Christians around me is the same thing I see in myself. I am a leader, even if it means just leading my children. By it is difficult to see myself this way. I know me. I know how often I mess up. I can recall and recite the mistakes I have made. I wonder many times why anyone would follow a pitiful sinner like me. Look, if we stay right here satan wins.
Being a leader in my home or outside it is not a matter of perfection it is a matter of faith. Who do I follow and is He big enough?
I believe He is. I believe that my God who breaths stars, walks on the same water He created, and lives inside of me is big enough. Big enough to forgive the mistakes I make and love me anyway. Big enough to show Jesus to those I meet even if I say the wrong thing. Big enough to save others even when the life I live in front of them is a constant picture of the need for grace. Big enough.
So today I leave the same challenge for you that He has laid on my heart. Are you doing the things He has called you to? Are you stepping out in faith to do things beyond what you are comfortable? Are you being the Christian leader He has called you to be in the place He has planted you? Do you believe He is big enough?
Today our giveaway is the last of the month. The winner will win Lysa Terkeurst’s book What Happens When Women Say Yes to God plus a $10 Starbucks giftcard. How do you enter? Leave a comment about what God has called you to do or how you have stepped beyond your comfort zone in the past. What is God doing in you?
I find God amazing, how He orchestrates our lives and puts like minded people together, to learn and grow. “Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another.” Proverbs 27:17
I have learned over a large portion of my life, a lesson that Satan (the father of lies) drove home with precision. I learned from living in an abusive marriage for 17 years that I am worthless. For a while, even the air I breathed was wasted. How deceived I was, how much time and love for God was wasted in believing these lies. But no more! Even though I struggle to accept my strengths, because it is so much easier to accept our weaknesses, I know that God has called me to lead. He has called me to stand with compassion, love and boldness. I know that it’s from Him, because if it were up to me, I would be the one in the corner, the one holding my wounds so no one would see them. And thankfully I do not have to rely on my own strength, because He promised me…. Me, the women who was not worthy of the air in my lungs, the women who could do nothing and was nothing, the women who lived weakness…. He promised to be my strength (The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trust in Him and He helps me. My heart leaps for joy and with my song I praise Him. Ps 28:7).
Melissa – what an amazing testimony of what God has done in you! It does amaze me how God can take things in our lives that are ugly and yuck and turn them around to allow us to share Him with others. He has certainly done that in you. I am with you – sometimes it would be easier to shrink back. But our God is truly our strength and shield, He can bring us through more than we ever thought and sustain us for a lifetime. He is truly amazing in His power over all and at the same time His love for each of us. Awesome God. So glad you shared what He has done in you!
Stepping out of my comfort zone means saying yes to things–but I need to be choosier. If I say yes too often, I’m overloaded and frazzled. I am also acknowledging that I’m not the kind of leader you are: vision-casting, organizing, brave. I am a quieter and more one-on-one or small-group leader. A smaller-task person. The big picture overwhelms me. And I’m learning that is okay too.
Pattie – You made me chuckle. Through this year I have earned a lot about me as well. I learned that I need people just like you. I love casting a vision or getting everyone excited. The details? Well, I can accomplish them, but man they drive me crazy sometimes and I don’t necessarily like them (all that to say that I don’t know that I do them very well). So thankful God made all of us – and that not everyone is just like me :). I have also learned to be choosier – nice that God gave me a built-in accountability partner in my husband. He holds my hand down. Great answer to what God is doing in you!