Fulfill Your Ministry

by Rated J on 04/06/15

I have gotten so used to the idea of waiting for the Lord to lead, show, guide or whatever else, that nothing ever seems to get accomplished.  I ask regularly for wisdom, discernment and guidance which I believe God gives as we ask.  I also ask for His will to be done, not my own.

When reading in II Timothy, chapters 2-4, a lot of encouragement and instruction are given to us about running the good race, fighting the good fight, enduring, persevering and such.  II Timothy 4:5 says (NASB) "But you, be sober in all things, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry."

In praying about how to fulfill my ministry, I began again to ask for God's will, His wisdom, discernment etc. and was waiting for a "sign", I guess, whether spoken or marvelous moves of God to open doors for me.  I'm not sure what I expected.

But God did give me wisdom as I believe He revealed to me a connection between decisions we all face in trying to follow Him and waiting for Him to make the move.  Now, there are certainly times when we must wait for God to move and I'm not disputing that.  But there are also times we must make the move and trust in God for the wisdom of a serpent in this world and the innocence of a dove.

God reminded me of the parable ( found in Luke 19 ) of the master who gave each of 10 slaves a mina, which is about 100 days' wage, and instructed them to do business until his return.  The slaves who gave their master 10 or 5 minas were rewarded and called faithful in little things.  The slaves who gave their master only the one mina given to them were called worthless and had the mina taken from them and given to the faithful slaves.

If we notice, the faithful slaves were instructed only to do business, not exactly how to do it.  They took the initiative to increase the master's money.  It seems to me that worldly wisdom (wise as a serpent ) was needed while reverential fear of the master ( innocence of a dove ) was also needed.

In summation, we are instructed to fulfill our ministry.  We are also called to be good and faithful servants with what the Lord has given us.  We need to be balanced in when to wait for God to move, and when we need to move in faith and reverence to Him.

How many ministries never get off the ground ( yielding no minas ) because we are waiting, waiting and waiting for God to do or say something, not realizing He has said and done something.  He's put the ministry on our heart and given us instruction to fulfill our ministry.  In my own life, He has given me specific words of instruction, encouragement, etc. that I need to obey. 

I believe that as long as we are moving in faith when required, waiting upon God when He instructs us to or when we can no longer move without His direct intervention,  and remaining true to His Scripture, we will be called good and faithful servants in Christ Jesus.

I must move in faith and keep my eyes upon God so that I will know when to move again and when to stand still.