Ever feel weary of doing good? Each year we plan our major trips and ministry commitments. It’s very exciting as we think about the impact for eternity, but these plans come with a weight of financial responsibility and lots of good, hard work. I’ll be honest, it’s a heavy feeling when the beginning of each month comes around and we need to send funds to our partners to pay salaries and fund weekly trainings and outreaches.
These include at least 17 weekly Celebrate Recovery meetings, daily children’s ministries in the slums of India that include feeding & education, tutoring groups, and Gospel sharing after-school programs. On top of this, there are the domestic demands of teaching and recruiting students for our Multnomah Global Evangelist program, the continual work of evangelism in our local church and raising our family to live missionally. How about you? Do you feel this squeeze specifially related to the things you are doing that have an eternal impact? We’re in good company.
The apostle Paul says, “Besides al l this, I have the daily burden of my concern for all the churches. Who is weak without my feeling that weakness? Who is led astray, and I do not burn with anger?” (2 Cor 11:28-29). What can keep us all going?
- “Christ’s love controls us!”
These words from the apostle Paul are a great help to me. He meditated on how Christ loved him. We know Christ showed us love by laying down His very life, but have we thought about how this was not a once-in-a-lifetime event? He laid down His life daily. How many times did the burden of the multitudes of people who were harassed and distressed (people like you and I) move our Savior to go to the next town or village… teaching, proclaiming, and healing every sickness and disease (Matt 9:34-3 7). Even now, we know Jesus intercedes for us day and night (Hebrews 7:25). So preaching the Good News to ourselves of what Jesus has done/is doing for us keeps us going. - Speak it to others.
This past July we went to a different village in India each night. It was exhausting, especially since it rained on us each time. But we had to proclaim what Christ has done… for these very people! This is when a man named Papaya came rushing up to us declaring his desperate need for Christ to change his life. Now we work to help Papaya enter recovery for his alcohol problem. As the village around watches our teams’ passion to help this man who is a “lost cause” to them, I’ve coached our team to explain, “it’s because of what Jesus has done for us when we were hopeless and undeserving. He’s told us that whatever we do for the least person, we’ve done for Him.” When we speak it to others, we are held accountable to stay at it. - Extended Prayer.
Even Jesus had to spend extended time in prayer (all night at times) to re-align His heart with the Father’s work and will. Can you get away with God for an hour or two and ask Him to revive your heart? Do it! Only He has what you need to be led by Love.
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