There is always a struggle isn't there?
Up until that moment I held on to an unconcious expectation to hit a platau someday. If I just worked hard enough or recruited enough leaders, then I would finally be able to set the ministry on auto pilot and it would run itself. Problems would simply ricochet off my to-do list. People would disciple themselves etc etc. Of course if someone said the same thing to me, I'd tell them it doesn't work that way, but I still kept that false expectation in the back of my mind my whole adult life.
I don't always expect to struggle with the same projects, relationship problems, and challenges, but now I do expect to struggle. Perhaps struggle is too harsh a word. I expect to surrender. My family, my job, and my ministry all take upkeep. I like the metaphore of farming for ministry. Jesus seemed to. It would be madness for a farmer to expect to plow his field so well that the seeds didn't need to be sown, or to harvest so well that the next years crop planted its self.
Today, as you "tend your fields/vines" I pray that you find strength for the struggles you go through and that you struggle well.
3 comments:
Light bulb moment, thank you.
I don't know if a farmer would call what he does "struggle" or "fight." Probably "work" is a better word. And one should never expect work not to be hard, even in ministry.
But soul-sucking, Sisyphean struggle--there's something not right or healthy about that. That doesn't sound to me like the light yoke and easy burden Jesus offers.
Thanks for your comment Pete. I think my choice of diction reflects my distaste for lawn care more than how a farmer affectionately regards his/her vocation. I agree with you, and will seek to be more clear when I communicate my thoughts in the future.
The fight I was referring to in relation to farming was G-d's message to Adam and Eve. A farmer will struggle with the soil. Weeds. Rocks. etc.
You really are helping me to clear this up in my own thinking. I view the 'struggles' of my own life as a fight when I should not. This is the wonderful work that the Lord has given to me. I'm going about inter-relational conflict, problem solving, and discipleship as a fight. When I think about it, my mindset seems as ridiculous as a businessperson going to work in a suit, disrobing, and putting on boxing gloves and trunks. It just doesn't fit.
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